Jfci.177 


* 


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HARPER'S  CLASSICAL  LIBRARY. 


THE  WORKS  OF  VIRGIL, 

LITERALLY  TRANSLATED. 


* 


«•, 

&• 


?      V 

**  * 


4 


THE 


WORKS    OF   VIRGIL. 


LITERALLY  TRANSLATED  INTO  ENGLISH  PROSE, 

WITH   NOTES, 

BY    DAVIDSON. 


A  NE\T  EDITION,  REVISED,  WITH  ADDITIONAL  NOTES, 


THEODORE  ALOIS  BUCKLEY, 


OF  CHRIST  CHURCH. 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER    &    BROTHERS, 

829    &   881    PEAEL   S,TREET. 
1859. 


"•* 


PREFACE. 

THE  object  of  the  publishers  in  issuing  the  present 
volume  was  not  so  much  to  produce  a  new  book,  as  to 
render  an  old  and,  in  many  respects,  a  good  one,  more 
suited  to  the  present  state  of  scholarship,  and  the  exi- 
gences of  the  student. 

With  this  view  the  translation  has  been  carefully 
compared  with  Wagner's  text,  and  with  the  principal 
commentaries ;  many  thousand  alterations,  involving 
either  closer  accuracy  in  translation  or  a  stricter  adher- 
ence to  the  construction,  have  been  introduced  ;  and, 
while  the  brief  historical  and  mythological  notes  of  the 
original  work  have  been  retained  for  the  use  of  the  tyro, 
attention  has  also  been  paid  in  the  editor's  further 
illustrations  to  the  requirements  of  the  more  advanced 
scholar. 

2051520 


vi  PREFACE. 

The  brief  Memoir  of  Virgil  contains  every  fact  neces- 
sary to  be  known  by  the  general  student,  and  nothing 
more.  In  criticising  a  poet,  whose  taste,  rather  than  his 
invention,  is  to  be  commended,  it  is  easy  to  offend  many, 
and  please  none  ;  to  draw  comparisons,  but  fail  of  con- 
viction. 

THEODORE  ALOIS  BUCKLEY, 

CHRIST    CHURCH. 


MEMOIR. 


PUBLIUS  VIRGILIUS  MARC  was  born  on  the  15th  of 
October,  B.  c.  TO,  at  Andes,  a  little  village  near  Mantua. 
His  mother's  name  was  Maia,  and  his  father  was  prob- 
ably a  small  landowner.  Great  attention  must  have 
been  bestowed  upon  the  education  of  our  poet,  as  he 
appears  to  have  been  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  ancient  philosophy  by  his  master,  Syron.  Delicacy 
of  health,  and  the  probable  want  of  influence  arising 
from  his  not  being  a  Roman  citizen  by  birth,  no  doubt 
prevented  his  attention  to  the  more  rising  professions 
of  war  and  oratory,  and  contributed  to  strengthen  his 
natural  inclination  for  a  retirement  sacred  to  poetry 
and  agriculture. 

The  fatal  issue  of  the  battle  of  Philippi,  in  B.  c.  42, 
placed  Mark  Antony  and  Octavianus  at  the  head  of 
affairs,  and  the  latter  quickly  began,  on  his  return,  to 
reward  his  soldiers  with  allotments  of  land.  To  make 
way  for  these  new  occupants,  the  old  possessors  had  to 
give  up  their  own  estates,  and  among  these  sufferers 
was  Virgil.  The  particulars  of  the  case  are  insufficiently 


viii  MEMOIR. 

known  to  us,  but  Virgil  probably  owed  the  subsequent 
restitution  of  his  estate  (between  B.  c.  42  and  40)  to  the 
advice  and  intercession  of  Asinius  Pollio.  The  first 
Eclogue  is  commonly  regarded  as  a  thank-offering  of 
the  poet  to  Augustus. 

About  the  same  time  Virgil  became  acquainted  with 
the  proverbial  patron  of  men  of  genius,  Maecenas,  at 
whose  mansion  his  friendship  with  Horace  probably 
commenced.  The  writings  of  the  latter  show  that  the 
most  cordial  intimacy  must  have  subsisted  between 
these  distinguished  poets  and  their  liberal  entertainer. 

Critics  seem  to  agree  in  placing  the  completion  of  the 
Georgics  in  B.  c.  31,  while  his  Eclogues  were  no  doubt 
of  an  earlier  date.  As  Theocritus  formed  the  model  of 
these  brief  pastorals,  so  the  Greek  agricultural  and 
astronomical  poems  of  Hesiod,  Aratus,  Nicander,  and 
others,  whose  works  are  only  known  to  us  in  fragments, 
furnished  the  materials,  and  often  the  language,  of  the 
Georgics  of  VirgiL 

The  jEneid  must  have  occupied  our  poet's  thoughts 
for  a  long  time,  although  we  have  no  certain  data  of  its 
commencement  and  progress.1  At  whatever  time,  how- 
ever, it  was  begun,  the  poet  appears  to  have  regarded 
it  as  an  unfinished  production  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
an  opinion  in  which  modern  critics  have  unanimously 
coincided. 

On  the  return  of  Augustus  from  Samos  in  the  year 
B.  c.  20,  he  met  Virgil  at  Athens.  An  intended  tour 


1  A  summary  of  some  of  the  principal  suppositiors  on  this  head  will 
be  found  in  Mr.  George  Long's  article  "  Virgilius,"  in  Smith's  Biographi- 
cal Dictionary. 


MEMOIR.  jx 

through  Greece  was  prevented  by  his  failing  health, 
and  Virgil  died  soon  after  his  arrival  at  Brundusium, 
on  the  2d  of  September,  B.  c.  19.  His  remains  were 
carried  to  Naples,  which  had  been  his  favorite  place 
of  residence,  and,  if  we  may  believe  Donatus,  the  fol- 
lowing inscription,  from  the  poet's  own  hand,  was 
placed  on  the  tomb. 

"  Mantua  me  genuit,  Calabri  rapuere,  tenet  nunc 
Parthenope.    Cecini  pascua,  rura,  duces." 

Although  Virgil  had  lived  with  the  greatest  liberality, 
and  had  been  studiously  mindful  of  the  fulfillment  of 
filial  duty,  he  left  considerable  property,  accumulated 
by  the  liberality  of  his  friends.  His  manners  were 
modest  and  retiring  ;  his  disposition  distinguished  by 
amiable  urbanity  and  unassuming  gentleness.  Nor  was 
his  fortune  inferior  to  his  merits.  He  lived  in  the  best 
age  of  Home,  among  the  best  spirits  of  that  age,  and 
enjoyed  the  delights  of  fame  without  the  persecutions 
of  envy  and  the  sacrifice  of  character.  If  not  possessed 
of  the  mighty  inventive  genius  of  a  Homer  or  ^Eschy- 
lus,  he  was  beyond  all  others  in  the  true  perception  of 
elegance,  in  the  unaffected  love  of  his  subject,  and  in 
the  exquisite  finish  and  sublimity  of  his  episodes. 


VIRGIL'S   BUCOLICS. 


ECLOGUE   I. 

Virgil,  in  this  Eclogue,  celebrates  the  praises  of  Augustus,  for  restoring  to 
him  his  lands,  of  which  he  had  been  dispossessed,  having  been  bestowed 
upon  the  veteran  soldiers  who  had  fought  in  the  cause  of  Augustus,  at 
the  battle  of  Philippi,  B.  c.  42.  Tityrus  personates  Virgil,  or  probably  his 
father,  and  M-elib<xw,  his  less  fortunate  neighbors,  the  Mantuans. 

MELIB(EUS,  TlTYRUS. 

M.  You,  Tityrus,  reclined  under  the  covert  of  a  full-spread 
beech,  practice  a  woodland  lay  on  a  slender  oaten  pipe.  We 
leave  the  bounds  of  our  country,  and  our  pleasant  fields ;  we 
fly  our  country ;  you,  Tityrus,  stretched  at  ease  in  the  shade, 
teach  the  woods  to  re-echo  beauteous  Amaryllis.1 

T.  O  Meliboaus,  a  god  hath  vouchsafed  us  this  tranquillity ; 
for  to  me  he  shall  always  be  a  god ;  a  tender  lamb  from  our 
folds  shall  often  stain  his  altar  [with  its  blood].  He  permitted 
my  heifers  to  range  at  large,  as  you  see,  and  myself  to  play 
what  I  wished  on  my  rural  reed. 

M.  I  envy  you  not  indeed  ;  I  rather  marvel ;  to  such  an  ex- 
tent is  there  confusion  in  the  lands.  Lo,  myself,  sick  at  heart, 
am  driving  forth  my  tender  she-goats :  this,  too,  O  Tityrus,  I 
drag  along  with  difficulty  :  for  here  just  now  among  the  thick 
hazels  having  yeaned  twins,  the  hope  of  a  flock,  she  left  them, 
alas!  on  the  naked  flinty  rock.  This  calamity,  I  remember, 
my  oaks  stricken  from  heaven  often  presaged  to  me,  had  not 
my  mind  been  infatuated :  [often  the  ill-boding  crow  from  a 
hollow  oak  presaged.8]  But  tell  me,  Tityrus,  who  is  this  god 
of  yours? 

1  Amaryllis,  the  name  of  a  country  girl.  Some  have  supposed  that  the 
poet  spoke  of  Rome  under  that  name. 

a  This  line  properly  belongs  to  EcL  ix.  15.  "  Memini"  is  elegantly 
used  with  respect  to  ill  omens.  Cf.  Ter.  Phonn.  L  2,  24.  B, 

1 


2  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  I.  20—50. 

T.  The  city,  Meliboeus,  which  they  call  Rome,  I  foolish 
imagined  to  be  like  this  our  [Mantua3],  whither4  we  shep- 
herds oft  are  wont  to  drive  down6  the  tender  offspring  of  our 
ewes.  So  I  had  known  whelps  like  dogs,  so  kids  [like]  their 
dams :  thus  was  I  wont  to  compare  great  things  with  small. 
But  that  city  hath  raised  its  head  as  far  above  others,  as  the 
cypresses  are  wont  among  the  limber  shrubs.6 

M.  And  what  so  great  a  reason  had  you  to  visit  Rome  ? 

T.  Liberty;  which,  though  late,  yet  kindly  looked  upon 
me,  although  indolent,  after  my  beard  began  to  fall  off  with  a 
whitish  hue  when  I  shaved ;  yet  [on  me]  she  looked,  and 
after  a  long  time  came,  when  Amaryllis  began  to  sway  me, 
and  Galatea  had  cast  me  off.  For  I  will  not  disown  it,  while 
Galatea  ruled  me,  I  had  neither  hopes  of  liberty,  nor  concern 
about  my  stock.  Though  many  a  victim  went  from  my  folds, 
and  fat  cheese  was  pressed  for  the  ungrateful  city,7  my  right 
hand  never  returned  home  heavy  with  money. 

M.  I  used  to  wonder,  Amaryllis,  why  disconsolate  you 
were  invoking  the  gods  ;  and  for  whom  you  suffered  the  apples 
to  hang  on  the  tree.  Your  Tityrus  hence  was  absent.  The 
very  pines,  O  Tityrus,  the  fountains,  these  very  copses  called 
for  thee. 

T.  What  could  I  do  ?  It  was  neither  in  my  power,  while  I 
staid  here,  to  deliver  myself  from  servitude,  nor  elsewhere  to 
experience  gods  so  propitious.  Here  Meliboeus  I  saw  that 
youth,  to  whom  for  twice  six  days  our  altars  yearly  smoke 
[with  incense].  Here  first  he  gave  this  entreating  answer  te 
me:  "Swains,  feed  your  heifers  as  formerly,  and  yoke  youi 
steers." 

M.  Happy  old  man !  your  lands  then  will  remain  [still  in 
your  possession],  and  large  enough  for  you.  Though  the  naked 
flint,  and  marsh  with  slimy  rush,  overspread  all  the  pasture- 
grounds  ;  yet  no  unaccustomed  fodder  shall  harm  thy  languid, 

3  Mantua>  a  city  in  the  north  of  Italy  on  the  Mincio,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  which  Virgil  was  born. 

4  "Quo"=:"ad  quam."     This  is  a  common  usage  in  poetry,  but  is 
scarcely  to  be  imitated  in  prose.     See  Muncker  on  Hyginus,  Fab.  3.     B. 

6  "  Depellere."     It  must  be  remembered  that  Virgil's  village,  Andes, 
stood  on  high  ground,  and  hence  the  road  to  the  city  lay  downward.    B. 

"  Viburnum"  is  properly  the  "  wayfaring  tree."    B". 

7  Urbs  is  emphatically  applied  to  Rome.     So  Tibull.  i.  9,  61,  (i  Te 
canet  agricola,  e  magna  cum  venerit  urbe."     B, 


ECL.  i.  51—74.  BUCOLICS  3 

pregnant  ewes ;  nor  noxious  diseases  of  the  neighboring 
flock  shall  hurt  them.  Happy  old  man !  here,  among  well- 
known  streams  and  sacred  fountains,  you  will  enjoy  the  coo) 
shade.  On  this  side,  a  hedge  planted  at  the  adjoining  bound 
ary,  whose  willow  blossoms  are  ever  fed  on  by  Hyblaean 
bees,"  shall  often  court  you  by  its  gentle  hummings  to  indulge 
repose.  On  the  other  side,  the  pruner  beneath  a  lofty  rock 
shall  sing  to  the  breezes :  nor  meanwhile  shall  either  the 
hoarse  wood-pigeons,  thy  delight,  or  the  turtle  from  his  lofty 
elm,  cease  to  coo. 

T.  Sooner  therefore  shall  the  fleet  stags  pasture  high  in 
the  air,  and  the  seas  leave  the  fish  naked  on  the  shore ;  sooner, 
the  bounds  of  each  being  traversed,  shall  the  Parthian9  exile 
drink  the  Arar,  or  Germany  the  Tigris,  than  his  countenance 
be  effaced  from  my  breast. 

M.  But  we  must  go  hence ;  some  to  the  parched  Africans,10 
some  of  us  shall  visit  Scythi-a,  and  Oaxes  the  rapid  [river]  of 
Crete,  and  the  Britons,  totally  separated  from  all  the  world. 
Ah !  shall  I  ever  hereafter,  after  a  length  of  time,  with  wonder 
behold  my  native  territories,  and  the  roof  of  my  poor  cot 
piled  up  with  turf;  some  ears  of  corn,11  my  [only]  kingdom? 
Shall  a  ruffian  soldier  possess  these  well-cultivated  fields  ? — a 
barbarian,  these  my  fields  of  standing  corn?  See!  to  what 
extremity  discord  hath  reduced  us  wretched  citizens.  See ! 
for  whom  we  have  sown  our  fields.  Now,  Meliboeus,  graft 
your  pear-trees;  in  order  range  your  vines.  Begone,  my 

*  Hyblsean  bees,  from  Hybla,  a  mountain  of  Sicily,  celebrated  for  its 
excellent  honey. 

*  Parthian,  etc.     Parthia,  now  part  of  Persia,  a  country  of  Asia.     The 
Arar,  or  Saone,  a  river  of  France,  which  falls  into  the  Rhone  at  Lyons. 
Germany,  a  large  country  of  Europe,  to  the  north  of  Italy.     The  Tigris, 
a  river  of  Asia,  forming  a  junction  with  the  Euphrates. 

10  Africans,  etc.    Africa,  one  of  the  three  divisions  of  the  ancient  world. 
Scythia,  a  general  name  given  by  the  ancients  to  the  extreme  northern 
parts  of  Europe  and  Asia.     Oaxes,  a  river  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
island  of  Crete.     The  Britons,  the  inhabitants  of  Britain,  which  some  of 
the  ancients  believed  was  once  joined  to  the  continent  of  Europe. 

11  So  the  later  commentators ;  but  I  am  still  inclined  to  follow  Serviug 
in  interpreting  aristas  "  corn  seasons."     He  observes,  "  quasi  rusticua 
per  aristas  numerat  annos."    See  my  note  on  Soph.  Ant.  340.  Bind. 
So  Silius  It.  viii.  61,  "  Dum  flavas  bis  tondet  messor  aristas."     Auso- 
nius,  however,  probably  understood  it  the  other  way,  if  we  may  jud°re 
from  his  imitation,  Id.  3,  "  Salve  haerediolum  majorum  regna  meorum." 
B. 


4  BUCOLICS.       ECL.  i.  75—84.     u.  1—20. 

goats,  once  a  happy  flock,  begone  :  no  more  shall  I,  stretched 
out  in  my  verdant  grot,  henceforth  behold  you  hanging  far 
above  me  from  a  rock  with  bushes  overgrown.  No  carols 
shall  I  sing;  no  more,  my  goats,  as  I  feed  you,  shall  you 
browse  the  flowery  cytisus  and  bitter  willows. 

T.  Yet  here  this  night  you  may  take  up  your  rest  with 
me  on  green  leaves.  We  have  mellow  apples,  soft  chestnuts, 
and  plenty  of  fresh-pressed  curd.  And  now  the  high  tops  of 
the  villages  afar  smoke,  and  larger  shadows  fall  from  the  lofty 
mountains. 

ECLOGUE  H. 

The  subject  of  this  Eclogue  is  copied  from  Theocritus.   The  shepherd  Cory- 
don  is  deeply  enamored  of  Alexis,  an  ungrateful  youth  of  great  beauty. 

ALEXIS. 

THE  shepherd  Corydon  burned1  for  beauteous  Alexis,  the 
darling  of  his  master  ;  nor  had  he  any  thing  to  hope.  Only 
among  the  thick  beeches,  high  embowering  tops,  he  continu- 
ally came  :  there,  in  solitude,  with  unavailing  fondness,  he 
cast  forth  to  the  mountains  and  the  woods  these  undigested 
[complaints]  : 

Ah,  cruel  Alexis,  for  my  songs  hast  thou  no  care  ?  on  me 
hast  thou  no  pity  ?  thou  wilt  surely  at  last"  compel  me  to  die. 
Even  the  cattle  now  pant  after  shades  and  cool  retreats  ;  now 
the  thorny  brakes  shelter  even  the  green  lizards  ;  and  Thes- 
tylis  pounds  the  garlic  and  wild  thyme,  strong-scented  herbs, 
for  the  reapers  spent  with  the  violent  heat.  But  to  the  hoarse 
grasshoppers  in  company  with  me  the  thickets  resound,  while 
under  the  scorching  sun  I  trace  thy  steps.  Was  it  not  better 
to  endure  the  rueful  spite  and  proud  disdain  of  Amaryllis? 
Would  it  not  [have  been  better  to  endure]  Menalcas,  though 
he  was  black,  though  thou  wast  fair?  Ah,  comely  boy,  trust 
not  too  much  to  complexion.  White  privets  fall  neglected  ; 
the  purple  hyacinths  are  gathered.  By  thee,  Alexis,  I  am 
neglected;  nor  dost  thou  inquire  who  I  am;  how  rich  in 


1  For  this  Grecism  compare  Hermesianax,  37,  Kate™  pev 
Nemes.  Eel.  ii.  1,  "  Formosam  Donacen  puer  Idas  et  puer  Alcon  arde- 
bant."    B. 

*  The  full  force  of  "  denique"  seems  to  be,  "  What  tlien  ?  will  you 
force  me,"  etc.    B. 


ECL.  IL  20—48.  BUCOLICS.  5 

flocks,  how  abounding  in  snow-white  milk.*  A  thousand 
ewes  of  mine  stray  on  the  mountains  of  Sicily.  I  want  not 
milk  in  summer ;  I  have  it  new  even  in  the  cold  weather.  I 
warble  the  same  airs 'which  Theban  Amphion*  was  wont, 
when  on  Attic  Aracynthus*  he  called  his  herds  together.  Nor 
am  I  so  deformed :  upon  the  shore  I  lately  viewed  myself, 
when  the  sea  stood  unruffled  by  the  winds.  I  will  not  fear 
Daphnis,  thyself  being  judge,  if  my  image  never  deceives  me. 
O  would  it  but  please  thee  to  inhabit  with  me  our  mean  rural 
retreats  and  humble  cots,  and  to  pierce  the  deer,  and  to  drive 
together  a  flock  of  kids  to  the  green  mallow !  In  the  woods 
along  with  me  thou  shalt  rival  Pan  in  singing.  Pan*  first 
taught  [men]  to  join  several  reeds  with  wax ;  Pan  guards 
both  the  sheep  and  the  shepherds.  Nor  let  it  displease  thee 
to  rub  thy  lip  with  a  shepherd's  reed.  What  did  Amyntas  not 
do  to  learn  this  same  art  ?  I  have  a  pipe  of  seven  unequal 
reeds  compactly  joined,  of  which  Damoetas  some  time  ago 
made  me  a  present,  and  dying,  said,  Thou  art  now  its  second 
master.  Damoetas  said :  the  foolish  Amyntas  envied.  Be- 
sides [I  have]  two  young  he-goats  I  found  in  a  valley  not 
safe,  whose  skins  even  now  are  speckled  with  white  ;  each  day 
they  drain  both  the  udders  of  an  ewe ;  these  I  reserve  for 
thee.  Long  Thestylis  has  begged  to  have  them  from  me ; 
and  she  shall  do  so,  since  my  presents  are  disdained  by 
you. 

Come  hither,  O  lovely  boy ;  behold  the  nymphs  bring  thee 
lilies  in  full  baskets.  For  thee,  fair  Nais,  cropping  the  pale 
violets7  and  heads  of  poppies,  joins  the  daffodil  and  flower  of 

8  I  follow  Anthon's  punctuation.  But  Servius  defends  "  nivei  pecoris." 
There  seems  little  difference.  B. 

*  Amphion,  the  famous  king  of  Thebes,  who  built  the  walls  of  that 
city ;  the  stones  whereof  he  is  said  to  have  made  to  dance  into  their  places 
by  the  music  of  his  lyre.  He  is  called  Dircseus,  either  from  Dirce,  his 
step-mother,  whom  he  put  to  death  for  the  injuries  she  had  done  to  bis 
mother,  Antiope ;  or  from  a  fountain  in  Bceotia  of  that  name. 

6  Aracynthus  was  a  town  on  the  confines  of  Attica  and  Boeotia,  where 
was  the  fountain  Dirce :  it  is  called  Actaeo,  Attic,  from  Acta  or  Acte,  the 
country  about  Attica,  Ovid.  Met.  lib.  ii.  720,  "Sic  super  Actaeas  agilis 
Cyllenius  arces  inclinat  cursus," 

6  Pan,  the  god  of  shepherds,  chiefly  worshiped  in  Arcadia.     B. 

7  i.  e.  gilliflowers  or  wall-flowers.     The  term  "  pale"  is  here  applied 
to  denote  a  pale,  tawny  hue,  not  mere  whiteness,  as  Anthon  has  ob- 
served.   B 


(5  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  n.  48—73. 

sweet-smelling  dill.  Then,  interweaving  them  with  cassia,8 
and  other  fragrant  herbs,  sets  off  the  soft  hyacinths  with  saf- 
fron marigold.  Myself  will  gather  for  thee  quinces  hoary 
with  tender  down,  and  chestnuts  which  my  Amaryllis  loved. 
Plums  I  will  add  of  waxen  hue.  On  this  fruit"  too  shall 
honor  be  conferred.  And  you,  O  laurels,  I  will  crop;  and 
thee,  O  myrtle,  next :  for,  thus  arranged,  you  mingle  sweet 
perfumes. 

Corydon,  thou  art  a  clown.  Alexis  neither  minds  thy 
presents ;  nor,  if  by  presents  thou  shouldst  contend,  would 
tolas  yield.  Alas,  alas,  what  was  the  bent  of  my  wretched 
mind  ?  Undone,  I  have  let  the  south  wind  loose  among  my 
flowers,  and  the  boars  in  my  crystal  springs.  Ah,  madman, 
whom  dost  thou  fly  ?  The  gods  themselves  have  dwelt  in 
woods,  and  the  Trojan  Paris.  Let  Pallas  herself  inhabit  the 
citadels  she  has  erected.  Let  woods  above  all  things  delight 
us.  The  grim  lioness  pursues  the  wolf,  the  wolf  on  his  part 
the  goat ;  the  wanton  goat  pursues  the  flowery  cytisus  ;  Cory- 
don thee,  O  Alexis.  His  own  peculiar  pleasure  draws  on 
each  one. 

See,  the  steers  bring  home  the  plow  hung  upon  the  yoke, 
and  the  retreating  sun  doubles  the  growing  shadows ;  but  me 
love  still  consumes.  For  what  bounds  can  be  set  to  love? 
Ah,  Corydon,  Corydon,  what  frenzy  hath  possessed  thee  ? 
Half-pruned  is  thy  vine  on  the  leafy  elm.10  Why  rather 
triest11  thou  not  to  weave,  of  osiers  and  pliant  rush,  some  one 
at  least  of  those  implements  which  thy  work  requires.  Thou 
wilt  find  another  Alexis,  if  this  disdains  thee. 

• 

8  The  "  spurge  plant,"  or  "  mountain  widow- waile,"  not  the  aromatic 
plant  of  the  same  name.  ANTHON. 

*  "  Pomum"  is  literally  "  an  apple,"  but  it  is  also  used  as  a  general 
term  for  all  kinds  of  fruit 

10  Vines  were  trained  to  elms.  So  Hor.  Ep.  L  13,  3,  "  amicta  vitibua 
ulmo."  B. 

u  Literally,  "  but  do  you  rather,"  i.  e.  "  than  go  on  in  this  mad  way." 


ECL.  in.  1—27.  BUCOLICS. 


ECLOGUE  IIL 

This  Eclogue  exhibits  a  trial  of  skill  in  singing,  between  Damcetas  and  Me- 
palcas.  Palsemon,  who  is  chosen  judge,  after  hearing  them,  declares  his 
inability  to  decide  such  an  important  controversy. 

MENALCAS,  DAMOSTAS,  PALSEMON. 

M.  TELL  me,  Damcetas,  whose1  is  that  flock  ?  Is  it  that  of 
Meliboeus  ? 

D.  No ;  but  ^Egon's.     ^Egon  lately  intrusted  it  to  my  care. 

M.  Ah  sheep,  ever  a  luckless  flock;  while  he  himself  ca- 
resses Neaera,  and  fears  that  she  may  prefer  me  to  him,  this 
hireling  shepherd  milks  his  ewes  twice  in  an  hour;  and  the 
juice2  is  filched  from  the  flock,  and  the  milk  from  the  lambs. 

D.  Remember,  however,  that  these  scandals  should  with 
more  reserve  be  charged  on  men.  We  know  both  who  [cor- 
rupted] you,  and  in  what  sacred  grot,  while  the  goats  looked 
askance  ;  but  the  good-natured  nymphs  smiled. 

M.  Then,  I  suppose,  when  they  saw  me  with  a  felonious  bill 
hack  Mycon's  elm-grove  and  tender  vines. 

D.  Or  here  by  these  old  beeches,  when  you  broke  the  bow 
and  arrows  of  Daphnis :  which  when  you,  cross-grained  Me- 
nalcas,  saw  gi  fen  to  the  boy,  you  both  repined,  and  had  you 
not,  by  some  means  or  other,  done  him  a  mischief,  you  had 
burst  [for  envy]. 

M.  What  can  masters  do,  when  pilfering  slaves  are  so  auda- 
cious ?  Miscreant !  did  I  not  fee  thee  entrap  that  goat  of 
Damon,  while  his  mongrel  barked  with  fury  ?  And  when  I 
cried  out,  Whither  is  he  now  sneaking  off?  Tityrus,  assemble 
your  flock ;  you  skulked  away  behind  the  sedges. 

D.  Ought  he  not,  when  vanquished  in  singing,  to  give  me 
the  goat  which  my  flute  by  its  music  won  ?  If  you  know  it 
not,  that  same  goat  was  my  own  :  and  Damon  himself  owned 
it  to  me,  but  alleged  that  he  was  not  able  to  pay. 

M.  You  [vanquish]  him  in  piping  ?  Or  was  there  ever  a 
wax-jointed  pipe  in  your  possession?  Wast  thou  not  wont, 
thou  dunce,  in  the  cross-ways  to  murder  a  pitiful  tune  on  a 
squeaking  straw  ? 

1   "  Cujum,"  from  the  obsolete  "  cujus,  -a,  -«m."    B. 
9  i.  e.  animal  lymph,  as  Edwards  observes.     Cicero  Tusc.  Q.  ii.  17, 
"  Subdue  cibum  unum  diem  athlete,  ferre  non  posse  exclamabit."    B. 


8  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  ni.  28—59. 

D.  Are  you  willing,  then,  that  each  of  us  try  by  turns  what 
we  can  do  ?  This  young  heifer  I  stake  ;  and  lest  you  should 
possibly  reject  it,  she  comes  twice  a  day  to  the  milking-pail : 
two  calves  she  suckles  with  her  udder :  say  for  what  stake  you 
will  contend  against  me. 

M.  I  dare  not  stake  any  thing  with  thee  from  the  flock :  for 
I  have  a  sire  at  home,  I  have  a  harsh  step-dame  :  and  twice  a 
day  both  of  them  number  the  cattle,  and  one  the  kids.  But 
what  thou  thyself  shalt  own  of  far  greater  value,  since  thou 
choosest  to  be  mad,  I  will  stake  my  beechen  bowls,  the  carved 
work  of  divine  Alcimedon,3  round  which  a  curling  vine,  super- 
added  by  the  skillful  carver's  art,  mantles  the  clustering  berries 
diffusely  spread  by  the  pale  ivy.  In  the  midst  are  two  figures, 
Conon ;  and,  who  was  the  other  ?  He  who  with  his  wand  dis- 
tributed among  the  nations  the  whole  globe ;  [who  taught] 
what  seasons  the  reaper,  what  the  bent  plowman,  should 
observe.  Nor  have  I  yet  applied  my  lips  to  them,  but  I  keep 
them  carefully  laid  up. 

D.  For  me  too  the  same  Alcimedon  made  two  bowls,  and 
with  soft  acanthus4  wreathed  their  handles :  Orpheus  in  the 
midst  he  placed,  and  the  v/oods  following.  Nor  have  I  yet  ap- 
plied my  lips  to  them,  but  keep  them  carefully  laid  up.  If  you 
consider  the  heifer,  you  have  no  reason  to  extol  your  bowls. 

M.  By  no  means  shalt  thou  this  day  escape  :  I  will  come  to 
any  terms  you  challenge.  Let  but  that  very  person  who  comes 
(lo,  it  is  Palsemon)  listen  to  this  strain :  I  will  take  care  that 
you  shall  not  challenge  any  henceforth  at  singing. 

D.  Come  on,  then,  if  thou  hast  aught  [to  sing]  ;  in  me  there 
shall  be  no  delay :  nor  do  I  shun  any  one.  Only,  neighbor 
Palsemon,  weigh  this  with  the  deepest  attention  ;  it  is  a  matter 
of  no  small  importance. 

P.  Sing,  since  we  are  seated  on  the  soft  grass ;  and  now 
every  field,  now  every  tree,  is  budding  forth :  now  the  woods 
look  green ;  now  the  year  is  most  beauteous.  Begin,  Damcetas : 
then  you,  Menalcas,  follow.  Ye  shall  sing  in  alternate  verses : 
the  Muses  love  alternate  verses. 

8  Alcimedon,  an  excellent  carver,  but  of  what  country  is  uncertain. 
Conon,  a  Greek  astronomer  of  Samos,  the  cotemporary  and  friend  of 
Archimedes,  who,  probably,  was  the  other  figure  mentioned  by  the  poet. 

*  Plin.  Ep.  v.  6,  "  Acanthus  in  piano  mollis,  et,  pene  dixerim,  liquidus." 
It  is  the  modern  "  Brankursine."  B. 


ECL.  in.  60 — 83.  BUCOLICS.  9 

D.  From  Jove,  ye  Muses,5  let  us  begin:  all  things  are 
full  of  Jove :  he  cherishes  the  earth ;  by  him  are  my  songs 
esteemed. 

M.  And  me  Phoebus  loves :  for  Phoebus6  are  still  with  me 
his  appropriate  gifts,  the  laurel  and  sweet-blushing  hyacinth. 

D.  Galatea,  wanton  girl,  pelts  me  with  apples,7  and  flies  to 
the  willows,  but  wishes  first  to  be  seen. 

M.  But  my  flame  Amyntas  voluntarily  offers  himself  to  me ; 
so  that  now  not  Delia's8  self  is  more  familiar  to  our  dogs. 

D.  A  present  is  provided  for  my  love  :  for  I  myself  marked 
the  place  where  the  airy  wood-pigeons  have  built. 

M.  What  I  could,  I  sent  to  my  boy,  ten  golden  apples 
gathered  from  a  tree  in  the  wood  :  to-morrow  I  will  send  him 
ten  others. 

D.  O  how  often,  and  what  things  Galatea  spoke  to  me  ! 
Some  part,  ye  winds,  waft  to  the  ears  of  the  gods. 

M.  What  avails  it,  O  Amyntas,  that  you  despise  me  not  in 
your  heart,  if,  while  you  hunt  the  boars,  I  watch  the  toils. 

D.  Tolas,  send  to  me  Phyllis :  it  is  my  birthday.  When  for 
the  fruits  I  sacrifice  a  heifer,  come  thyself. 

M.  lolas,  I  love  Phyllis  above  others :  for  at  my  departure 
she  wept,  and  said,  Adieu,  fair  youth,  a  long  adieu. 

D.  The  wolf  is  fatal  to  the  flocks  ;  showers  to  ripened  corn ; 
winds  to  the  trees  ;  to  me  the  anger  of  Amaryllis. 

M.  Moisture  is  grateful  to  the  sown  corn ;  the  arbute  to 
weaned  kids ;  the  limber  willow  to  the  teeming  cattle ;  to  me, 
Amyntas  alone. 

8  Muses,  goddesses  who  presided  over  poetry,  music,  etc.    The  nine 
Muses  were  called  the  Pierian  Sisters,  from  Pieria  in  Macedonia,  where 
they  were  born.    Virgil  also  calls  them  Sicilian  Muses,  because  Theoc- 
ritus, the  celebrated  pastoral  poet,  was  a  native  of  Sicily ;  and  Libefhrian 
nymphs,  from  Libethra,  a  mountain  of  Boeotia,  in  Greece. 

9  Phoebus,  a  name  given  to  Apollo.     The  "  laurel"  refers  to  his  mistress 
Daphne,  who  was  changed  into  that  tree,  while  flying  from  her  lover.  B. 

7  The  apple,  under  the  Latin  name  of  which  (malum)  the  Romans 
comprehended  also  the  quince,  the  pomegranate,  the  citron,  the  peach, 
etc.,  was  sacred  to  Venus,  whose  statues  sometimes  bore  a  poppy  in  one 
hand  and  an  apple  in  the  other.     A  present  of  an  apple,  or  a  partaking 
of  an  apple  with  another,  was  a  mark  of  affection ;  and  so,  also,  to  throw 
an  apple  at  one.     To  dream  of  apples  was  also  deemed  by  lovers  a  good 
omen.    ANTHON. 

8  Delia.    Diana  was  so  called,  because  she  was  born  in  the  island  of 
Delos. 

1* 


10  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  ra.  84—105. 

D.  Pollio  loves  my  muse,  though  rustic :  ye  Pierian  Sisters, 
feed  a  heifer  for  your  reader. 

M.  Pollio  himself  too  composes  unrivaled  verses :  feed  [for 
him]  the  bull  which  already  butts  with  the  horn,  and  spurns 
the  sand  with  his  feet. 

D.  Let  him  who  loves  thee,  Pollio,  rise  to  the  same  state  to 
which  he  rejoices  that  thou  [hast  risen] ;  for  him  let  honey 
flow,  and  the  prickly  bramble  bring  forth  amomum. 

M.  Who  hates  not  Bavius"  verse,  may  love  thine,  O  Maavius ; 
and  the  same  may  yoke  foxes,  and  milk  he-goats. 

D.  Ye  swains  who  gather  flowers,  and  strawberries  that 
grow  on  the  ground,  O  fly  hence ;  a  cold  snake  lurks  in  the 
grass.10 

M.  Forbear,  sheep,  to  advance  too  far ;  it  is  not  safe  trusting 
to  the  bank ;  the  ram  himself  is  but  now  drying  his  fleece. 

.D.  Tityrus,  from  the  river  remove  your  browsing  goats;  I 
myself,  when  it  is  time,  will  wash  them  all  in  the  pool. 

M.  Pen  up  the  sheep,  ye  swains :  if  the  heat  should  dry  up 
the  milk  as  of  late,  in  vain  shall  we  squeeze  the  teats  with  our 
hands. 

D.  Alas,  how  lean  is  my  bull  amid  the  fattening  vetch !  the 
same  love  is  the  bane  of  the  herd  and  of  the  herdsman. 

M.  Surely  love  is  not  the  cause  with  these :  they  scarcely 
stick  to  their  bones.  Some  evil  eye  or  other  bewitches  my 
tender  lambs. 

D.  Tell  me  (and  you  shall  be  my  great  Apollo),  where 
heaven's  circuit  extends  no  farther  than  three  ells.11 

9  Bavius  and  Maevius,  two  contemptible  poets  in  the  age  of  Augustus, 
contemporary  with  Virgil. 

10  The  Greek  proverb  is,  vird  iravri  J.iQy  anopinof,  ["  under  every 
stone  a  scorpion,"]  in  Carcinus  apud  Athen.  xv.  15.     With  regard  to  the 
epithet,  "  frigidus,"  Kiessling,  on  Theocr.  xv.  58,  quotes  a  remark  of  the 
Scholiast  on  Nicander  Th.  291,  to  the  effect  that  the  epithet  V^P^f  is 
applied  to  all  reptiles  in  a  similar  manner.    B. 

*  Numerous  explanations  have  been  given  to  the  enigma  here  stated, 
some  making  the  reference  to  be  to  a  well ;  others,  to  a  pit  in  the  center 
of  Rome,  in  the  Comitium,  etc.  The  best  solution,  however,  is  that  of 
Asconius  Pedianus,  who  heard  Virgil  himself  say,  that  he  meant  to  al- 
lude to  a  certain  Ccelius,  a  spendthrift  at  Mantua,  who,  having  run  through 
all  that  he  possessed,  retained  merely  enough  ground  for  a  sepulcher : 
and  that  this  very  sepulcher,  embracing  about  three  ells  in  extent,  is 
what  Damcetas  refers  to  in  the  text,  the  whole  enigma  turning  upon  the 
similarity  in  form  and  sound  between  cceli,  "of  heaven,"  and  Cceli  (i.  e. 
Ccelii),  ';  of  Codius."  AJJTHOX. 


ECL.  HI.  106—  111.   IT.  1—15.     BUCOLICS.  U 

M.  Tell  me  in  what  land  flowers  grow,  inscribed  with  the 
names  of  kings;11  and  have  Phillis  to  thyself  alone. 

P.  It  is  not  for  us  to  determine  so  great  a  controversy  be- 
tween you  ;  both  you  and  he  deserve  the  heifer  ;  and  whoever 
[so  well]  shall  sing  the  fears  of  sweet  [successful]  love,  and 
experimentally  describe  the  bitterness  of  [disappointment].13 
Now,  swains,  shut  up  your  streams  ;  the  meads  have  imbibed 
enough. 

ECLOGUE  IV. 


,       > 

Virgil,  in  this  Eclogue,  is  supposed  by  some  to  refiw  to  the  birth  of  Marcel-    ' 
lus,  the  son  of  Octavia,  the  sister  of  Augustus  ;  or  to  a  son  of  his  patron,  '  ' 
the  consul  Pollio,  to  whom  the  Eclogue  is  inscribed.    Others  consider  it 
to  be  founded  on  ancient  predictions  respecting  the  Messiah,  and  apply  it 
to  our  blessed  Saviour. 

POLLIO. 

YE  Sicilian  Muses,  let  us  sing  somewhat  higher  strains. 
Vineyards  and  lowly  tamarisks  delight  not  all.  If  rural  lays 
we  sing,  let  those  lays  be  worthy  of  a  consul's  ear.  The  last 
era,  of  Cumaean1  song,  is  now  arrived  :  The  great  series  of  ages 
begins  anew.  Now,  too,  returns  the  virgin  Astraea,"  returns 
the  reign  of  Saturn  ;  now  a  new  progeny  is  sent  down  from 
high  heaven.  Be  thou  but  propitious  to  the  infant  boy,  under 
whom  first  the  iron  age  shall  cease,  and  the  golden  age  over 
all  the  world  arise,  O  chaste  Lucina;  now  thy  own  Apollo 
reigns.  While  thou  too,  Pollio,  while  thou  art  consul,  this 
glory  of  our  age  shall  make  his  entrance  ;  and  the  great  months 
begin  to  roll.  Under  thy  conduct,  whatever  vestiges  of  our 
guilt  remain,  shall,  being  done  away,  release  the  earth  from 
fear  forever.  He  shall  partake  the  life  of  gods,  shall  see 

11  The  allusion  is  to  the  hyacinth,  which  has,  according  to  a  poetic 
legend,  the  letters  AI  marked  on  its  petals,  not  only  as  a  note  of  sorrow 
for  the  death  of  Hyacinthus,  but  also  as  constituting  half  the  name  of 
Ajax,  i.  e.  Ataj-.  AXTHON. 

13  There  is  much  uncertainty  respecting  the  reading  of  this  passage. 
Anthon  ingeniously  transposes  "  amores"  and  "amaros."  But  I  can  not 
help  thinking  that  "there  is  no  occasion  to  alter  the  common  reading.  B. 

1  Cumasan  song,  from  Cuma3,  a  city  of  Italy,  north-west  of  Naples,  in 
the  vicinity  of  which  resided  the  celebrated  Cumaean  SibyL 

2  Astraea,  in  the  mythology  of  the  ancients,  was  the  goddess  of  Justice, 
who  resided  on  earth  during  the  reign  of  Saturn,  or  the  golden  age. 
Being  shocked  by  the  impiety  of  mankind,  she  returned  to  heaven,  and 
became  one  of  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac,  under  the  name  of  Virgo. 


12  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  iv.  15 — 49. 

heroes  mingled  in  society  -with  gods,  himself  be  seen  by  them, 
and  rule  the  peaceful  world  with  his  father's  virtues.  Mean- 
while the  earth,  O  boy,  as  her  first  offerings,  shall  pour  thee 
forth  every  where,  without  culture,  creeping  ivy  with  lady's 
glove,  and  Egyptian  beans  with  smiling  acanthus  intermixed. 
The  goats  of  themselves  shall  homeward  convey  their  udders 
distended  with  milk;  nor  shall  the  herds  dread  huge  over- 
grown lions.  The  very  cradle  shall  pour  thee  forth  attractive 
flowers.  The  serpent  also  shall  die ;  and  the  poison's  fallacious 
plant  shall  die:  the  Assyrian  spikenard  shall  grow  in  every 
soil.  But  soon  as  thou  shalt  be  able  to  read  the  praises  of 
heroes,  and  the  achievements  of  thy  sire,  and  to  understand 
what  virtue  is,3  the  field  shall  by  degrees  grow  yellow  with  soft 
ears  of  corn ;  blushing  grapes  shall  hang  on  the  rude  brambles 
and  hard  oaks  shall  distill  the  dewy  honey.  Yet  some  few 
footsteps  of  ancient  vice  shall  remain  to  prompt  [men]  to  brave 
the  sea  in  ships,  to  inclose  cities  with  walls,  and  cleave  furrows 
in  the  earth.  There  will  then  be  another  Tiphys,  and  another 
Argo4  to  waft  chosen  heroes:  there  shall  be  likewise  other 
wars:  and  great  Achilles6  shall  once  more  be  sent  to  Troy. 
After  this,  when  confirmed  age  shall  have  ripened  thee  into 
man,  the  sailor  shall  of  himself  renounce  the  sea ;  nor  shall 
the  naval  pine  barter  commodities :  all  lands  shall  all  things 
produce.  The  ground  shall  not  endure  the  harrow,  nor  the 
vineyard  the  pruning-hook ;  the  sturdy  plowman,  too1,  shall 
now  release  his  bulls  from  the  yoke.  Nor  shall  the  wool  learn 
to  counterfeit  various  colors :  but  the  ram  himself  shall  in  the 
meadows  tinge  his  fleece,  now  with  sweet-blushing  purple,  now 
with  saffron  dye.  Scarlet  shall  spontaneously  clothe  the  lambs 
as  they  feed.  The  Destinies,  harmonious  in  the  established 
order  of  the  Fates,  sung  to  their  spindles :  "  Ye  ages,  run  on 
thus."  Dear  offspring  of  the  gods,  illustrious  increase  of  Jove, 
set  forward  on  thy  way  to  signal  honors ;  the  time  is  now  at 

*  Servius  rightly  understands  the  successive  studies  of  poetry  and 
philosophy,  as  they  are  enumerated  in  Plato  Protag.  §  43.  B. 

4  Argo,  the  name  of  the  ship  which  carried  Jason  and  his  fifty -four 
companions  to  Colchis,  to  recover  the  golden  fleece.  Tiphys,  who  was 
pilot  of  the  ship,  died  before  reaching  Colchis.  The  Argonautic  expedi- 
tion happened  about  1263  B.  0. 

6  Achilles,  the  bravest  of  all  the  Greeks  in  the  Trojan  war,  where  he 
performed  prodigies  of  valor.  He  slew  Hector,  but  was  himself  at  last 
slain  by  Paris. 


ECL.  IV.  50— 63.     v.l— 12.     BUCOLICS.  13 

hand.  See  the  world  with  its  convex  weight  nodding  to  thee, 
the  earth,  the  regions  of  the  sea,  and  heavens  sublime :  See 
how  all  things  rejoice  at  the  approach  of  this  age.  O  that  my 
last  stage  of  life  may  continue  so  long,  and  so  much  breath  as 
shall  suffice  to  sing  thy  deeds  !  Neither  Thracian  Orpheus,* 
nor  Liuus,  shall  surpass  me  in  song,  though  his  mother  aid  the 
one,  and  his  sire  the  other,  Calliopea  Orpheus,  and  fair  Apollo 
Linus.  Should  even  Pan  with  me  contend,  Arcadia's  self  being 
judge,  even  Pan  should  own  himself  overcome,  Arcadia's  self 
being  judge.  Begin,  sweet  babe,  to  distinguish  thy  mother 
by  thy  smiles ;'  ten  months  brought  on  thy  mother  tedious 
qualms.  Begin,  young  boy ;  that  child  on  whom  his  parents 
never  smiled,  nor  god  ever  honored  with  his  table,  nor  goddess 
with  her  bed. 

ECLOGUE  V. 

In  this  Eclogue,  the  shepherds  Menalcas  and  Jtopsns  celebrate  the  funeral 
eulogium  of  Daphnis. 

MENALCAS,  MOPSUS. 

ME.  SINCE,  Mopsus,  we  are  met,  both  skillful  swains,  you  in 
piping  on  the  slender  reed,  I  in  singing  verses,  why  have  we 
not  sat  down  here  among  the  elms  intermixed  with  hazels  ? 

Mo.  You,  Menalcas,  are  my  superior :  it  is  just  that  I  be 
ruled  by  you ;  whether  under  the  shades  that  waver  by  the 
fanning  zephyrs,  or  rather  into  this  grotto  we  repair  :  see  how 
the  wild  vine  with  scattered  clusters  hath  spread  the  grotto. 

ME.  Amyntas  alone  in  our  mountains  may  vie  with  tkee. 

Mo.  What  if  the  same  should  vie  with  Phoebus'  self  in 
song  ? 

ME.  Begin  you,  Mopsus,  first;  whether  you  are  disposed 
to  sing  the  passion  of  Phyllis,1  or  the  praises  of  Alcon,  or  the 
strife  of  Codrus ;  begin  :  Tityrus  will  tend  the  browsing  kids. 

*  Orpheus,  the  son  of  (Eagrus,  king  of  Thrace,  and  the  muse  Calliope, 
celebrated  for  his  masterly  skill  in  music. 

7  Heyne  wrongly  refers  "  risu"  to  the  mother's  smile.     B. 

1  The  names  here  introduced,  namely,  Phyllis,  Alcon,  and  Codrus,  be- 
long not  to  real  characters,  but  to  fictitious  pastoral  personages.  Phyllis, 
therefore,  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  daughter  of  Lycurgus,  king 
of  Thrace,  who  was  abandoned  by  Demophoon,  nor  Codras  with  the  early 
king  of  Athens.  ANTHON. 


14  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  T.  13—51. 

Mo.  Nay,  I  will  rather  try  those  strains  which  lately  I  in- 
scribed on  the  green  bark  of  the  beech  tree,  and  sang  and  noted 
them  by  turns  :  then  bid  Amyntas  vie  with  me. 

ME.  As  far  as  the  limber  willow  is  inferior  to  the  pale  olive, 
and  humble  lavender  to  crimson  beds  of  roses  ;  so  far  is  Amyn- 
tas, in  my  judgment,  inferior  to  you. 

Mo.  But,  shepherds,  cease  further  words :  we  have  reached 
the  grot.  The  nymphs  wept  Daphnis  cut  off  by  cruel  death  ; 
ye  hazels  and  ye  streams  witnessed  [the  mourning  of]  the 
nymphs,  when  the  mother,  embracing  the  hapless  corpse  of 
her  son,  reproached  both  gods  and  stars  with  cruelty.  The 
swains,  O  Daphnis,  then  forgat  to  drive  their  fed  cattle  to  the 
cooling  streams  :  no  quadruped  either  tasted  of  the  brook,  or 
touched  a  blade  of  grass.  The  savage  mountains,  Daphnis, 
and  the  woods,  can  tell  that  even  the  African  lions  mourned 
thy  death.  Daphnis  taught  to  yoke  Armenian  tigers  in  the 
chariot ;  Daphnis,  to  lead  up  the  dances  in  honor  of  Bacchus, 
and  wreathe  the  pliant  wands  with  soft  leaves.  As  the  vine 
is  the  glory  of  the  trees,  as  grapes  are  of  the  vine,  as  the  bull 
is  of  the  flock,  as  standing  corn  of  fertile  fields  ;  so  thou  wast 
all  the  glory  of  thy  fellow-swains.  Ever  since  the  Fates 
snatched  thee  away,  Pales4  herself,  and  Apollo  too,  have  left 
the  fields.  Luckless  darnel,  and  the  barren  oats,  spring  up  in 
these  furrows,  where  we  were  wont  to  sow  the  plump  barley. 
Instead  of  the  soft  violet,  instead  of  the  purple  narcissus,  the 
thistle  springs  up,  and  the  thorn  with  its  sharp  prickles. 
Strew  the  ground  with  leaves,  ye  shepherds,  form  a  shade 
over  the  fountains :  these  rites  Daphnis  for  himself  ordains. 
And  form  a  tomb ;  and  on  that  tomb  inscribe  this  epithet :  I 
am  Daphnis  of  the  groves,  hence  even  to  the  stars  renowned, 
the  shepherd  of  a  fair  flock,  fairer  myself. 

ME.  Such,  matchless  poet,  is  thy  song  to  me,  as  slumbers  to 
the  weary  on  the  grass ;  as  in  scorching  heat  to  quench 
thirst  from  a  salient  rivulet  of  fresh  water.  Nor  equal  you 
your  master  in  the  pipe  only,  but  also3  in  the  voice.  t  Happy 
swain,  you  shall  now  be  the  next  to  him.  Yet,  I  will  sing 
in  my  turn  these  verses  of  mine,  such  as  they  are,  and  exalt 

*  Pales,  the  goddess  of  sheepfolds  and  of  pastures,  was  worshiped  with 
great  solemnity  among  the  Romans. 

3  I  have  supplied  the  ellipse  of  "  et,"  with  Burm.  on  Phaedr.  ProL 
L6.  B. 


ECL.  v.  50—79.  BUCOLICS.  15 

your  Daphnis  to  the  stars  :  Daphnis  I  will  raise  to  the  stars  ; 
me  too  Daphnis  loved. 

Mo.  Can  aught  be  more  acceptable  to  me  than  such  a  pres- 
ent ?  The  swain  himself  was  most  worthy  to  be  sung,  and 
Stimichon  hath  long  since  praised  to  me  that  song  of  thine. 

ME.  Daphnis,  robed  in  white,  admires  the  courts  of  heaven, 
to  which  he  is  a  stranger,  and  under  his  feet  beholds  the  clouds 
and  stars.  Hence  mirthful  pleasure  fills  the  woods  and  every 
field,  Pan  and  the  shepherds,  and  the  virgin  Dryads.*  The 
wolf  doth  neither  meditate  plots  against  the  sheep,  nor  are 
any  toils  set  to  insnare  the  deer ;  good  Daphnis  delights  in 
rest.  For  joy,  even  the  unshorn  mountains  raise  their  voices 
to  the  stars :  now  the  very  rocks,  the  very  groves,  resound 
these  notes :  a  god,  a  god,  he  is,  Menalcas.  O  be  propitious 
and  indulgent  to  thy  own !  Behold  four  altars  ;  lo,  Daphnis, 
two  for  thee,*  and  two  for  Phoebus.  Two  bowls  foaming  with 
new  milk,  and  two  goblets  of  fat  oil,  will  I  present  to  thee 
each  year :  and  chiefly,  enlivening  the  feast  with  plenty  of 
the  joys  of  Bacchus,8  before  the  fire  if  it  be  winter ;  if  har- 
vest, in  the  shade,7 1  will  pour  thee  forth  Ariusian  wine,  a 
new  kind  of  nectar.  Damoetas  and  Lyctian  ^Egon  shall  sing 
to  me  :  Alphesiboeus  shall  mimic  the  frisking  satyrs.  These 
rites  shall  be  ever  thine,  both  when  we  pay  our  solemn  an- 
niversary vows  to  the  nymphs,  and  when  we  make  the  circuit 
of  the  fields.  While  the  boar  shall  love  the  tops  of  mountains ; 
while  fishes  love  the  floods ;  while  bees  on  thyme  shall  feed, 
and  grasshoppers  on  dew ;  thy  honor,  name,  and  praise  shall 
still  remain.  As  to  Bacchus  and  Ceres,8  so  to  thee  the 

4  Dryads,  nymphs  who  presided  over  the  woods. 

5  "  Lo !  two  (altars)  for  thee,  0  Daphnis,  two  larger  ones  for  Phoebus." 
Observe  that  altaria  is  here  in  opposition  with  aras  understood.    This 
passage  shows  plainly  that  the  distinctive  difference  between  ara  and 
aUare  is  here  meant  to  be  observed.     Ara  is  an  altar  of  smaller  size,  on 
which  incense,  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  similar  oblations  are  offered  up ; 
aLtare  is  an  altar  of  larger  size,  on  which  victims  are  burned.    This  serves 
to  explain,  also,  what  immediately  follows.     To  Daphnis,  as  to  a  deified 
hero,  no  bloody  offerings  are  to  be  made ;  the  oblations  are  to  consist 
merely  of  milk,  oil,  and  wine.    ANTHON. 

6  Bacchus  first  taught  the  use  of  the  vine,  etc.,  and  was  therefore 
called  the  God  of  wine.     Ariusia,  i.  e.  Chios,  now  Scio,  an  island  in  the 
Archipelago,  celebrated  for  its  excellent  wine. 

7  Cicero  de  Senect.  14,  "  Me  vero  delectant  et  pocula  minuta  atque 
rorantia,  et  refrigeratio  restate,  et  vicissim  aut  Sol  aut  ignis  hibernus."  •  B. 

8  Ceres,  the  goddess  of  corn  and  of  harvests. 


16  BUCOLICS.     ECL.  v.  80— 90.    TL  1— 13. 

swains  shall  yearly  perform  their  vows :  thou  too  shalt  bind 
them  by  their  vows. 

Mo.  What,  what  returns  shall  I  make  to  thee  for  so  excellent 
a  song  ?  For  neither  the  whispers  of  the  rising  south  wind, 
nor  shores  lashed  by  the  wave,  nor  rivers  that  glide  down 
among  the  stony  vales,  please  me  so  much. 

ME.  First  I  will  present  you  with  this  brittle  reed.  This 
taught  me,  "  Corydon  for  fair  Alexis  burned."  This  same 
hath  taught  me,  "  Whose  is  this  flock  ?  is  it  that  of  Meli- 
bceus?" 

Mo.  But  do  you,  Menalcas,  accept  this  sheep-hook,  beautiful 
for  its  uniform  knobs  and  brass,  which  Antigenes  never  could 
obtain,  though  he  often  begged  it  of  me  ;  and  at  that  time  he 
was  worthy  to  be  loved. 

ECLOGUE  VI. 

Silenus,  a  demi-god  and  companion  of  Bacchus,  was  noted  for  his  love  of 
•wine  and  skill  in  music :  here  he  relates  concerning  the  formation  of  the 
world,  and  the  nature  of  things,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Epicu- 
reans. 

SILENUS. 

Mr  Thalia  is  the  first  who  deigned  to  sport  in  Syracusian 
strain,  nor  blushed  to  inhabit  the  woods.  When  I  offered  to 
sing  of  kings  and  battles,  Apollo  twitched  my  ear,  and  warned 
me  thus:  A  shepherd,  Tityrus,  should  feed  his  fattening 
sheep,  and  sing  in  humble  strain.1  Now  will  I,  O  Varus2 
(for  there  will  be  many  who  will  desire  to  celebrate  thy 
praises,  and  record  disastrous  wars),  exercise  my  rural  muse 
on  the  slender  reed.  I  sing  not  unbidden  strains  :  yet  whoso 
enamored  [with  my  strains],  whoso  shall  read  even  these,  to 
him,  O  Varus,  our  tamarisks,  each  grove  shall  sing  of  thee : 
nor  is  any  page  more  acceptable  to  Phoebus,  than  on  whose 
front  the  name  of  Varus  is  inscribed.  Proceed,  O  Muses. 

1  Deductum  dicere  carmen,  a  humble  or  slender  song;  a  metaphor 
taken  from  wool  spun  out  till  it  becomes  fine  and  slender.  So  Hor.  lib. 
ii.  1,  225,  Tenui  deducta  poemata  filo.  And  TibuL  lib.  i.  3,  86,  Deducat 
plena  stamina  longa  colo. 

1  Varus,  Quintilius  Varus,  a  Roman  proconsul,  who  commanded  an 
army  in  Germany,  where  he  lost  his  life,  with  three  whole  legions, 

A.  D.  10. 


*OL.  vi.  13— 35.  BUCOLICS.  17 

Chromis  and  Mnasylus,  the  youthful  swains,  saw  Silenus  lying 
asleep  in  his  cave,  his  veins,  as  usual,  swoln  with  yesterday's 
debauch.  His  garlands  just3  fallen  from  his  head,  lay  at  some 
distance,  and  his  heavy  flagon  hung  hy  its  worn  handle. 
Taking  hold  of  him  (for  often  the  sire  had  amused  them  both 
with  the  promise  of  a  song),  they  bind  him  with  his  own 
wreaths.  ^Egle  associates  herself  with  them,  and  comes  un- 
expectedly upon  the  timorous  swains ;  JEgle,  fairest  of  the 
Naiads ;  and  just  as  he  is  opening  his  eyes,  she  paints  his 
forehead  and  temples  with  blood-red  mulberries.  He,  smiling 
at  the  trick,  says,  Why  do  ye  fasten  these  bonds  ?  Loose  me, 
swains :  it  is  enough  that  I  have  suffered  myself  to  be  seen. 
Hear  the  song  which  you  desire  :  the  song  for  you ;  for  her 
I  shall  find  another  reward.  At  the  same  time  he  begins. 
Then  you  might  have  seen  the  Fauns  and  savages  frisking  in 
measured  dance,  then  the  stiff  oaks  waving  their  tops.  Nor 
rejoices  the  Parnassian  rock  so  much  in  Phoebus  :*  nor  do 
Rhodope  and  Ismarus'  so  much  admire  Orpheus.  For  he 
sang  how,  through  the  mighty  void,'  the  seeds  of  earth,  and 
air,  and  sea,  and  pure  fire,  had  been  together  ranged ;  how 
from  these  principles  all  the  elements,  and  the  world's  tender' 
globe  itself,  combined  into  a  system  ;  then  how  the  soil  began 
to  harden,  to  shut  up  the  waters  apart*  within  the  sea,  and  by 

s  Tantum  capti  delapsa,  "  Having  fallen  to  such  a  distance  from  his 
head."  It  is  very  hard  to  say  what  is  here  the  true  meaning  of  tantum. 
If  we  join  it  with  procul,  it  makes  a  most  harsh  construction ;  if  we  ren- 
der it  "only,"  it  clashes  with  procul,  unless  this  stand  for  juxta,  which 
is  too  forced;  if,  with  Voss.,  we  make  it  equivalent  to  modo,  "just,"  it 
appears  frigid  and  tame.  We  have  ventured,  therefore,  to  regard  it  as 
standing  for  in  tantum.  ANTHON. 

4  Parnassain  rock.  Parnassus,  a  celebrated  mountain  of  Phocis  in 
Greece,  sacred  to  Apollo  and  the  Muses,  remarkable  for  its  two  summits. 

6  Ehodope  and  Ismarus,  two  high  mountains  in  Thrace. 

6  Magnum  per  inane.     The   Epicureans,  whose   philosophy  is  here 
sung,  taught  that  incorporeal  space,  here  called  magnum  inane,  and  cor- 
poreal atoms  were  the  first  principles  of  all  things;  their  void  space  they 
considered  as  the  womb,  in  which  the  seeds  of  all  the  elements  were 
ripened  into  their  distinct  forms. 

7  "  Tener,"  Anthon  says,  "  because  just  created."    But  I  prefer  under- 
standing it  of  the  plastic  nature  of  the  materials,  with  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat 
ii.  3.     B. 

8  Et  discludere  Nerea  ponto.    Literally,  "to  shut  up  Nereus  apart  in 
the  sea,"  i.  e.  to  separate  the  waters  into  their  channel,-  Uereus  the  sea* 
god  being  here  put  for  the  waters  in  gener?' 


18  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  vi.  36—60. 

degrees  to  assume  the  forms  of  things ;  and  how  anon  the 
earth  was  astonished  to  see  the  new-born  sun  shine  forth  ;  and 
how  from  the  clouds,  suspended  high,  the  showers  descend  : 
when  first  the  woods  began  to  rise,  and  when  the  animals,  yet 
few,  began  to  range  the  unknown  mountains.  He  next  tells 
of  the  stones  which  Pyrrha9  threw,  the  reign  of  Saturn,  the 
fowls  of  Caucasus,10  and  the  theft  of  Prometheus.  To  these 
he  adds  the  fountain  where  the  sailors  had  invoked  aloud 
Hylas11  lost;  how  the  whole  shore  resounded  Hylas,  Hylas. 
And  he  soothes  Pasiphae13  in  her  passion  for  the  snow-white 
bull :  happy  woman  if  herds  had  never  been  !  Ah,  ill-fated 
maid,  what  madness  seized  thee  ?  The  daughters  of  Prcetus13 
with  imaginary  lowings  filled  the  fields ;  yet  none  of  them 
pursued  such  vile  embraces  of  a  beast,  however  they  might 
dread  the  plow  about  their  necks,  and  often  feel  for  horns  on 
their  smooth  foreheads.  Ah,  ill-fated  maid,  thou  now  art 
roaming  on  the  mountains  !  He,  resting  his  snowy  side  on  the 
soft  hyacinth,  ruminates  the  blenched  herbs  under  some 
gloomy  oak,  or  courts  some  female  in  the  numerous  herd.  Ye 
nymphs,  shut  up  now,  ye  Dictaan14  nymphs,  shut  up  the 
avenues  of  the  forests,  if  any  where  by  chance  my  bullock's 
wandering  footsteps  may  offer  to  my  sight.  Perhaps  some 
heifers  may  lead  him  on  to  the  Gortynian  stalls,16  either 

9  Pyrrha,  the  wife  of  Deucalion,  in  whose  age  all  mankind  was  de- 
stroyed by  a  deluge,  these  two  excepted.  On  consulting  the  oracle,  they 
were  directed  to  repair  the  loss,  by  throwing  stones  behind  their  backs ; 
those  which  Pyrrha  threw  were  changed  into  women,  and  those  of 
Deucalion  into  men. 

"  Caucasus,  a  lofty  mountain  of  Asia,  between  the  Euxine  and  Caspian 
Seas.  Prometheus,  having  made  a  man  of  clay,  which  he  animated  with 
fire  stolen  from  heaven,  was,  for  the  impiety,  chained  to  a  rock  on  the  top 
of  Caucasus,  where  a  vulture  continually  preyed  upon  his  liver. 

u  Hylas,  a  youth,  the  favorite  of  Hercules,  who  accompanied  the 
Argonautic  expedition,  but  was  drowned  in  the  Ascanius,  a  river  of 
Bithynia,  which  afterward  received  his  name. 

"  Pasiphae,  the  wife  of  Minos,  king  of  Crete,  who  disgraced  herself  by 
her  unnatural  passion. 

13  Proetus,  king  of  Argolis,  whose  three  daughters  became  insane  for 
neglecting  the  worship  of  Bacchus,  or,  according  to  some,  for  preferring 
themselves  to  Juno. 

14  Dictaaan  nymphs,  Cretan  nymphs  from  Dicte,  a  mountain  in  the 
island  of  Crete,  where  Jupiter  was  worshiped. 

15  Gortynian  stalls.     Gortyna,  an  ancient  city  of  Crete,  the  country 
around  which  produced  excellent  pastures. 


ECL.  vi.  60—77.  BUCOLICS.  19 

enticed  by  the  verdant  pasture,  or  in  pursuit  of  the  herd. 
Then  he  siugs  the  virgin,18  charmed  with  the  apples  of  the 
Hesperides  :  then  he  surrounds  the  sisters  of  Phaeton"  with 
the  moss  of  bitter  bark,  and  raises  the  stately  alders  from  the 
ground.  Then  he  sings  how  one  of  the  Sister  Muses  led 
Gallus,  wandering  by  the  streams  of  Permessus,18  to  the 
Aonian  mountains ;  and  how  the  whole  choir  of  Phoebus 
rose  up  to  do  him  honor :  how  Linus,  the  shepherd  of  song 
divine,  his  locks  adorned  with  flowers  and  bitter  parsley, 
thus  addressed  him  :  Here,  take  these  pipes  the  Muses  give 
thee,  which  before  [they  gave]  to  the  Ascraen19  sage ;  by 
which  he  was  wont  to  draw  down  the  rigid  wild  ashes  from 
the  mountains.  On  these  let  the  origin  of  Grynium's  grove" 
be  sung  by  you  ;  that  there  may  be  no  grove  in  which  Apollo 
may  glory  more.  Why  should  I  tell  how  [he  sang]  of 
Scylla21  the  daughter  of  Nisus  ?  or  of  her  whom,  round  the 
snowy  waist,  begirt  with  barking  monsters,  fame  records  to 
have  vexed"  the  Dulichian  ships,  and  in  the  deep  abyss,  alas, 
to  have  torn  in  pieces  the  trembling  sailors  with  sea-dogs  ? 

18  i.  e.  Atalanta,  daughter  of  Schoeneus,  king  of  Scyros,  or,  according 
'to  others,  of  lasius,  king  of  Arcadia,  who  was  famed  for  her  beauty, 
which  gained  her  many  admirers.  She  consented  to  bestow  her  hand  on 
him  that  could  outrun  her,  though  he  was  to  die  if  he  lost  the  race. 
Many  of  her  suitors  had  perished  in  the  contest,  when  Hippomenes 
offered  himself;  during  the  race,  he  dropped,  at  intervals,  three  golden 
apples  from  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides,  which  Atalanta  stopping  to 
pick  up,  he  arrived  first  at  the  goal,  and  obtained  her  in  marriage. 

17  The  sisters  of  Phaeton,  according  to  the  mythologists,  bewailing  his 
unhappy  end,  were  changed  into  poplars  by  Jupiter. 

18  Permessus,  a  river  issuing  from  Mount  Helicon  in  Aonia  (Bceotia), 
sacred  to  the  Muses. 

19  Ascrsean  sage.     Hesiod,  so  named  from  Ascra,  a  village  of  Bceotia 
in  Greece,  where  he  was  born. 

80  Grynium's  grove.  Grynium,  a  town  on  the  coast  of  JEolia  in  Asia 
Minor,  where  Apollo  had  a  temple  with  a  sacred  grove. 

21  Scylla,  a  daughter  of  Nisus,  king  of  Megara,  feigned  to  have  been 
changed  into  a  lark.  Dulichian  ships,  those  of  Ulysses,  who  was  king 
of  the  island  of  Dulichium.  After  the  fall  of  Troy,  Ulysses,  in  his  return 
home,  encountered  incredible  hardships,  and  with  difficulty  escaped  the 
rocks  of  Scylla,  so  named  from  a  daughter  of  Typhon,  who  was  changed 
by  Circe  into  a  frightful  monster,  when,  throwing  herself  into  the  sea 
between  Italy  and  Sicily,  she  became  the  dangerous  rocks  which  con- 
tinued to  bear  her  name. 

"  Virgil's  use  of  "  vexare"  is  discussed  by  Gellius,  ii.  6,  and  Macrob. 
Sat  vi.  7.  From  their  remarks,  the  word  harass  best  appears  to  ex- 
press its  meaning.  B. 


20  BUCOLICS.    ECL.  vi.  78—86.    rn.  1—9. 

or  how  he  described  the  limbs  of  Tereus"  transformed  ? 
what  banquets  and  what  presents  Philomela  for  him  pre- 
pared ?  with  what  speed  he  sought  the  deserts,  and  with  what 
wings,  ill-fated  one,  he  fluttered  over  the  palace  once  his  own  ? 
All  those  [airs]  he  sings,  which  happy  Eurotas"  heard,  and 
bade  its  laurels  learn,  when  Phoebus  played  of  old.  The  val- 
leys, stricken  [with  the  sound],  re-echo  to  the  stars ;  till 
Vesper56  warned  [the  shepherds]  to  pen  their  sheep  in  the 
folds,  and  recount  their  number;  and  came  forth  from  re- 
luctant Olympus. 

ECLOGUE  Vn. 

In  tills  Eclogue,  Virgil,  as  Melibceus,  gives  an  account  of  a  poetical  contest 
between  Thyrsis  and  Corydon. 

MELIBCEUS,  CORYDON,  THYRSIS. 

M.  DAPHNIS  by  chance  sat  down  under  a  whispering1 
holm-oak,  and  Corydon  and  Thyrsis  had  driven  their  flocks 
together;  Thyrsis  his  sheep,  Corydon  his  goats  distended 
with  milk :  both  in  the  flower  of  their  age,  Arcadians  both,2 
equally  matched  at  singing,  and  ready  to  answer.  To  this 
quarter,  while  I  was  fencing  my  tender  myrtles  from  the  cold, 
the  he-goat  himself,  the  husband3  of  the  flock,  from  me  had 
strayed  away  :  and  I  espy  Daphnis :  when  he  in  turn  saw  me, 
he  cried  out,  Come  hither  quickly,  Melibceus ;  your  goat  and 

23  Tereus,  a  king  of  Thrace.  He  married  Progne,  a  daughter  of  Pan- 
dion,  king  of  Athens,  who,  in  revenge  for  his  having  violated  her  sister 
Philomela,  and  cut  out  her  tongue,  killed  his  son  Itys,  and  served  him 
up  at  a  banquet.  According  to  the  poets,  they  were  all  changed  into 
different  kinds  of  birds. 

84  Eurotas  (Vasili  Potamo),  a  river  of  Laconia,  washing  ancient  Sparta, 
and  falling  into  the  Mediterranean. 

25  Vesper,  the  planet  Venus,  or  the  evening  star. 

1  The  rustling  of  the  breeze  in  the  leaves  is  thus  said  ijji&vpl&iv  in 
Greek.  B. 

*  i.  e.  both  skilled  in  music,  which  was  greatly  cultivated  among  the 
Arcadians.  No  reference  to  their  country  is  intended,  but  merely  to 
their  musical  excellence.  B. 

8  Vir  gregis  ipse  caper.  "  The  he-goat  himself,  the  husband  of  my 
flock."  (Compare  Theocritus,  viii.  49:  'Q  rpuye  TUV  ).EVKUV  ar/tiv 
uvep).  Observe  the  force  of  ipse  here,  implying  that  he  was  followed  by 
the  rest  of  the  flock  (Wagner,  Qusest.  Virg.  xviii.  2,  b.) ;  and  hence  we 
have,  in  verse  9th,  "  caper  tibi  salvus  et  ?uxdi."  ANTHOX.  So  Martial, 
Ep.  is.  31,  "pecorisque  maritus  tanigeri."  B. 


ECL.  vii.  10 — 42.  BUCOLICS.  21 

kids  are  safe ;  and,  if  you  can  stay  a  while,  rest  under  this 
shade.  Hither  thy  bullocks  of  themselves  will  come  across 
the  meads  to  drink.  Here  Mincius4  hath  fringed  the  verdant 
banks  with  tender  reed,  and  from  the  sacred  oak  swarms  of 
bees  resound.  What  could  I  do  ?  I  had  neither  Alcippe,  nor 
Phyllis,  to  shut  up  at  home  my  weaned  lambs  ;  but  there  was 
a  great  match  proposed,  Corydon  against  Thyrsis.  After  all, 
I  postponed  my  serious  business  to  their  play.  In  alternate 
verses,  therefore,  the  two  began  to  contend :  alternate  verses 
the  Muses  would  have  me  record.  These  Corydon,  those 
Thyrsis,  each  in  his  turn  recited. 

C.  Ye  Libethrian  nymphs,  my  delight,  either  favor  me  with 
such  a  song  as  ye  did  my  Codrus8  (he  makes  verses  next  to 
those  of  Phoebus)  ;  or,  if  we  can  not  all  attain  to  this^here  on 
this  sacred  pine  my  tuneful  pipe  shall  hang. 

T.  Ye  Arcadian  shepherds,  deck  with  ivy  your  rising  poet, 
that  Codrus'  sides  may  burst  with  envy.  Or,  if  he  praise  me 
beyond  what  I  desire,  bind  my  brow  with  lady's  glove,  lest  his 
evil  tongue  should  hurt  your  future  poet. 

C.  To  thee,  Delia,  young  Mycon  [tor  me  presents]  this  head 
of  a  bristly  boar,  and  the  branching  horns  of  a  long-lived  stag. 
If  this  success  be  lasting,  thou  shalt  stand  at  thy  full  length  in 
polished  marble,  thy  legs  with  scarlet  buskin  bound. 

T.  A  pail  of  milk  and  these  cakes,  Priapus,6  are  enough 
for  you  to  expect  [from  me] ;  you  are  the  keeper  of  a  poor,  ill- 
furnished  garden.  Now  we  have  raised  thee  of  marble  such 
as  the  times  admit ;  but,  if  the  breed  recruit  my  flock,  thou 
shalt  be  of  gold. 

C.  Galatea,  daughter  of  Nereus,  sweeter  to  me  than  Hybla's 
thyme,  whiter  than  swans,  fairer  than  white  ivy ;  soon  as  the 
well-fed  steers  shall  return  to  their  stalls,  come,  if  thou  hast 
any  regard  for  Corydon. 

T.  May  I  even  appear  to  thee  more  bitter  than  Sardinian 
herbs,7  more  rugged  than  the  furze,  more  worthless  than  sea- 

4  Mincius,  the  Mincio,  a  river  in  the  north  of  Italy,  falling  into  the 
Po  below  Mantua. 

6  Codrus,  a  Latin  poet,  cotemporary  with  VirgiL 

*  Priapus,  a  deity  among  the  ancients,  who  presided  over  gardens. 
He  was  the  son  of  Bacchus  and  Venus,  and  was  chiefly  worshiped  at 
Lampsacus  on  the  Hellespont. 

7  Sardinian  herbs,  a  bitter  herb  which  grew  in  the  island  of  Sardinia, 
said  to  cause  convulsions  and  death. 


22  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  vii.  43—68. 

weed  cast  upon  the  shore,  if  this  day  be  not  longer  to  me  than 
a  whole  year.  Go  home,  my  well-fed  steers,  if  you  have  any 
shame,  go  home. 

C.  Ye  mossy  fountains,  and  grass  more  soft  than  sleep,  and 
the  green  arbute-tree  that  covers  you  with  its  thin  shade,  ward 
off  the  midsummer  heat  from  my  flock  ;  now  scorching  sum- 
mer comes,  now  the  buds  swell  on  the  fruitful  tendrils. 

T.  Here  is  a  glowing  hearth,  and  resinous  torches  ;  here  is 
always  a  great  fire,  and  lintels  sooted  with  continual  smoke. 
Here  we  just  as  much  regard  the  cold  of  Boreas,8  as  either 
the  wolf  does  the  number  [of  sheep],  or  impetuous  rivers  their 
banks. 

C.  Junipers  and  prickly  chestnuts  stand  thick  ;9  beneath 
each  tree  its  apples  here  and  there  lie  strewn  ;  now  all  things 
smile  ;  but,  were  fair  Alexis  to  go  from  these  hills,  you  would 
see  even  the  rivers  dry. 

T.  The  field  is  parched ;  by  the  intemperature  of  the  air 
the  dying  herbage  thirsts ;  Bacchus  has  envied  our  hills  the 
shadow  of  the  vine ;  [but],  at  the  approach  of  our  Phyllis, 
every  grove  shall  look  green,  and  Jove  abundantly  descend  in 
joyous  showers. 

C.  The  poplar  is  most  grateful  to  Hercules,10  the  vine  to 
Bacchus,  to  lovely  Venus11  the  myrtle,  to  Phoebus  his  own 
laurel ;  Phyllis  loves  the  hazels :  so  long  as  Phyllis  loves  them, 
neither  the  myrtle  nor  the  laurel  of  Phoebus  shall  surpass  the 
hazels. 

T.  The  ash  is  fairest  in  the  woods,  the  pine  in  the  gardens, 
the  poplar  by  the  rivers,  the  fir  on  lofty  mountains  :  but  if, 
my  charming  Lycidas,  you  make  me  more  frequent  visits,  the 
ash  in  the  woods  shall  yield  to  thee,  and  the  pine  in  the 
gardens. 

8  Boreas,  the  name  of  the  north  wind.     According  to  the  ancient 
poets,  Boreas  was  the  son  of  Astraeus  and  Aurora. 

9  Anthon  rightly  observes  that  this  is  the  force  of  "  stant."    So  Luta- 
tius  Placidus  on  Stat.  Theb.  X.  157,  interprets  "stat  furor,"  by  "plenus 
est,"  quoting  this  line  as  an  example.    "B. 

10  Hercules,  the  most  celebrated  hero  of  fabulous  history,  the  son  of 
Jupiter  and  Alcmena,  was,  after  a  life  spent  in  achieving  the  most  in- 
credible exploits,  ranked  among  the  gods,  and  received  divine  honors. 

11  Venus,  a  principal  deity  among  the  ancients,  the  goddess  of  love 
and  beauty.     She  was  the  wife  of  Vulcan,  but  passionately  loved  Adonis 
and  Ancbises ;  by  the  latter  she  became  the  mother  of  ^Eneas. 


ECL.  vil.  69,  70.   Tin.  1—21.     BUCOLICS.  23 

M.  These  verses  I  remember,  and  that  vanquished  Thrysis 
in  vain  contended.  From  that  time  Corydon,  Corydon  is  our 
man. 

ECLOGUE   VIE. 

This  Bucolic  contains  the  strains  of  Damon  for  the  loss  of  his  mistress  ; 
and  Alphesiboeus  records  the  charms  of  an  enchantress. 

DAMON,  ALPHESIBGEUS. 

THE  muse  of  the  shepherds,  Damon  and  Alphesiboeus,  whom 
the  heifers,  unmindful  of  their  pastures,  admired  contending, 
and  by  whose  song  tiie  lynxes  were  astonished,  and  the  rivers, 
having  changed  their  courses,  stood  still ;  the  muse  of  Damon 
and  Alphesiboeus  I  sing. 

Whether  thou  art  now  passing  for  me1  over  the  rocks  of 
broad  Timavus,2  or  cruising  along  the  coast  of  the  Ulyrian  Sea  ;s 
say,  will  that  day  ever  come,  when  I  shall  be  indulged  to  sing 
thy  deeds  ?  say,  shall  it  come  that  I  may  be  indulged  to  diffuse 
over  the  world  thy  verses,  which  alone  merit  comparison  with 
Sophocles'  *  lofty  style  ?  With  thee  my  muse  commenced ; 
with  thee  shall  end.  Accept  my  songs  begun  by  thy  command, 
and  permit  this  ivy  to  creep  around  thy  temples  among  thy 
victorious  laurels. 

Scarce  had  the  cold  shades  of  night  retired  from  the  sky,  a 
time  when  the  dew  on  the  tender  grass  is  most  grateful  to 
the  cattle,  when  Damon,  leaning  against  a  tapering  olive,  thus 
began : — 

D.  Arise,  Lucifer,*  and  preceding  usher  in  the  cheerful 
day ;  while  I,  deceived  by  the  feigned  passion  of  my  mistress 
Nisa,  complain  ;  and  to  the  gods,  now  that  I  die  (though  I 
have  availed  me  nought  in  taking  them  to  witness),  yet  in  my 
last  hour  appeal.  Begin  with  me,  my  pipe,  Maenalian  strains. 

1  "  Mihi"  is  the  dativus  ethicus.     B. 

J  Timavus,  the  Timavo,  a  river  of  Italy,  rising  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps, 
and  falling  into  the  gulf  of  Trieste.  At  its  mouth  are  several  small 
islands  containing  hot  springs. 

3  Illyrian  Sea,  the  Adriatic  Sea  between  Italy  and  Dalmatia,  etc. 

4  Sophocles,  a  celebrated  tragic  poet  of  Athens,  remarkable  for  sub- 
limity of  style.     He  was  cotemporary  with  Pericles  and  Euripides,  and 
died  B.  c.  406. 

s .  Lucifer,  the  name  of  the  planet  Venus,  or  morning  star ;  as  Hesperus 
was  of  the  same  planet,  or  evening  star. 


24  BUCOLICS.  ECU  vin.  22 — 51. 

Maenalus*  always  has  a  vocal  grove  and  shaking  pines ;  he 
ever  hears  the  loves  of  shepherds,  and  Pan,  the  first  who  suf- 
fered not  the  reeds  to  be7  neglected.  Begin  with  me,  my 
pipe,  Msenalian  strains.  Nisa  is  bestowed  on  Mopsus !  what 
may  ~we  lovers  not  expect  ?  Griffins  now  shall  match  with 
horses,  and  in  the  succeeding  age  the  timorous  does  with 
dogs  shall  come  to  drink.  Mopsus,  cut  your  fresh  nuptial 
torches :  for  thee  a  wife  is  on  the  point  of  being  brought  home. 
Strew  the  nuts,*  bridegroom  ;  Hesperus  for  thee  forsakes  (Eta.* 
Begin  with  me,  my  pipe,  Msenalian  strains.  0  thou  matched 
to  a  worthy  spouse !  while  you  disdain  all  others,  and  while 
you  detest  my  pipe  and  goats,  my  shaggy  eyebrows,  and  my 
overgrown  beard  ;  nor  believe  that  any  god  regards  the  affairs 
of  mortals.  Begin  with  me,  my  pipe,  Maenalian  strains. 
When  thou  wast  but  a  child,  I  saw  thee  with  thy  mother 

fathering  the  dewy  apples  on  our  hedges ;  I  was  your  guide  ; 
had  then  just  entered  on  the  year  next  after  eleven,  I  was 
then  just  able  to  reach  the  slender  boughs  from  the  ground. 
As  soon  as  I  saw  thee,  how  was  I  undone  !  O  how  an  evil 
error  bore  me  away !  Begin  with  me,  my  pipe,  Maenalian 
strains.  Now  I  know  what  Love  is  :  Ismarus,  or  Rhbdope,  or 
the  remotest  Garamantes,10  produced  him  on  rugged  cliffs,  a 
boy  not  of  our  race  or  blood.  Begin  with  me,  my  pipe,  Mse- 
nalian strains.  Relentless  Love  taught  the  mother11  to  stain 
her  hands  in  her  own  children's  blood ;  a  cruel  mother  too 
thou  wast :  whether  more  cruel  was  the  mother  or  more  im- 
pious the  boy  ?  Impious  was  the  boy ;  thou,  mother,  too,  wast 
cruel.  Begin  with  me,  my  pipe,  Msenalian  strains.  Xow  let 

•  Masnalus,  now  Roino,  a  mountain  of  Arcadia  in  Greece,  sacred  to 
Pan.     It  was  covered  with  pine-trees. 

7  "Esse"is  elegantly  omitted  after  such  words  as  "pati,"  "sinere," 
etc.     Nemes.  Cyn.  70,  "Omnia  tentantem  passL"     Apul.  de  Deo.  Socr. 
"  Sejugam  veluti  debilem  passa  est."     Seneca,  Ined.  182,  "  Quemve  secu- 
rum  sinit"  Virg.  JEn.  i.  389,  "  Nee  plura  querentem  Passa  Venus."    B. 

8  On  this  custom  compare  Catull.  Epith.  p.  98.  Muret     "Da  nucis 
pueris  iners  Concubine,  satis  diu  Lucisti  nucibus."    B. 

*  (Eta,  a  celebrated  mountain,  or,  more  properly,  chain  of  mountains, 
between  Thessaly  and  Greece  Proper.     It  was  so  high,  that  the  poets 
feigned  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  rose  behind  it 

10  Garamantes,  a  people  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  now  called  Zaara. 

11  Matrem.     This  cruel  mother  is  Medea,  who  to  be  avenged  on  Jason 
for  preferring  another  mistress  to  her,  slew  her  sons  whom  she  bore  to 
Lim,  before  his  eyes. 


ECL.  viiL  52—84.  BUCOLICS. 


25 


the  wolf  of  himself  fly  from  the  sheep  ;  the  hard  oaks  bear 
golden  apples ;  the  alder  bloom  with  narcissus ;  the  tamarisks 
distill  rich  amber  from  their  barks ;  let  owls  with  swans  con- 
tend ;  be  Tityrus  an  Orpheus ;  an  Orpheus  in  the  woods,  an 
Arionia  among  the  dolphins.  Begin  with  me,  my  pipe,  Mae- 
nalian  strains.  Let  all  things  become  very  mid  ocean  ;  ye 
woods,  farewell.  From  the  summit  of  yon  aerial  mountain 
will  I  throw  myself  headlong  into  the  waves :  take  this  last 
present  from  me  dying.  Cease,  my  pipe,  now  cease  Maenah'an 
strains. 

Thus  Damon:   Ye  Pierian   muses,  say  what  Alphesibceus 
sung.     We  can  not  all  do  all  things. 

A.  Bring  forth  the  water,  and  bind  these  altars  with  a  soft 
fillet :  burn  thereon  oily  vervain  and  male13  frankincense,  that 
I  may  try,  by  sacred  magic  spells,  to  dispossess  my  love  of 
a  sound  mind.  Only  charms  are  here  wanting.  My  charms, 
bring  Daphnis  from  the  town,  bring  him  home.  Charms 
can  even  draw  down  the  moon  from  heaven ;  by  charms 
Circe14  transformed  the  companions  of  Ulysses ;  the  cold  snake 
is  in  the  meads  by  incantation  burst.  My  charms,  bring 
Daphnis  from  the  town,  bricg  him  home.  First,  these  three 
threads,  with  threefold  colors  varied,  I  round  thee  twine ; 
and  thrice  lead  thy  image  round  these  altars.  The  gods 
delight  in  the  uneven  number.  My  charms,  bring  Daphnis 
from  the  town,  bring  him  home.  Bind,  Amaryllis,  three 
colors  in  three  knots ;  bind  them.  Amaryllis,  now ;  and 
say,  I  bind  the  chains  of  Venus.  My  charms,  bring  Daphnis 
from  the  town,  bring  him  home.  As  this  clay  hardens, 
and  as  this  wax  dissolves  with  one  and  the  same  fire  ; 
so  may  Daphnis  by  my  love.  Sprinkle  the  salt  cake,  and 
burn  the  crackling  laurels  in  bitumen.  Me  cruel  Daphnis 
burns  ;  I  on  Daphnis  burn  this  laurel.  My  charms,  bring 
Daphnis  from  the  town,  bring  him  home.  May  such  love 

"  Arion,  a  famous  lyric  poet  and  musician  of  the  isle  of  Lesbos.  On 
his  return  to  Corinth  from  Italy,  the  mariners  formed  a  plot  to  murder 
him  for  his  riches,  when  he  threw  himself  into  the  sea,  and  was  carried 
on  the  back  of  a  dolphin  to  Tsenarus  in  the  Morea. 

13  i.  e.  frankincense  of  the  best  sort. 

11  Circe,  a  daughter  of  Sol  and  Perseis,  celebrated  for  her  knowledge 
of  magic  and  poisonous  herbs.  She  changed  the  companions  of  Ulysses 
into  swine;  but  afterward,  at  his  solicitation,  restored  them  to  their 
former  state. 

2 


25  BUCOLICS.       ECL.  viii.  85 — 109.    ix.  1, 

[seize]  Daphnis  as  when  a  heifer,  tired  with  ranging  after  the 
bull  through  lawns  and  lofty  groves,  distracted,  lies  down  on 
the  green  sedge  by  a  rivulet,  nor  is  mindful  to  withdraw  from 
the  late  hour  of  night :  let  such  love  seize  Daphnis,  nor  let 
his  cure  be  my  concern.  My  charms,  bring  Daphnis  from  the 
town,  bring  him  home.  These  garments  the  faithless  one  left 
with  me  some  time  ago,  the  dear  pledges  of  himself;  which 
to  thee,  O  earth,  on  the  very  entrance,  I  now  commit :  these 
pledges  owe  me  Daphnis.  My  charms,  bring  Daphnis  from 
the  town,  bring  him  home.  These  herbs,  and  these  baneful 
plants,  in  Pontus16  gathered,  Moeris  himself  gave  me :  in  Pon- 
tus  numerous  they  grow.  By  these  have  I  seen  Mceris  trans- 
form himself  into  a  wolf,  and  skulk  into  the  woods ;  often  from 
the  deep  graves  call  forth  the  ghosts,  and  transfer  the  springing 
harvests  to  another  ground.  My  charms,  bring  Daphnis  from 
the  town,  bring  him  home.  Bring  forth  the  ashes,  Amaryllis  ; 
throw  them  into  a  flowing  brook,16  and  over  thy  head ;  look 
not  back.  Daphnis  with  these  I  will  assail :  nought  h6 
regards  the  gods,  nought  my  charms.  My  charms,  bring 
Daphnis  from  the  town,  bring  him  home.  See  the  very  ashes 
have  spontaneously  seized  the  altars  with  quivering  flames, 
while  I  delay  to  remove  them  may  it  be  a  happy  omen.  'Ti» 
certainly  something  or  other ;  and  Hylax "  in  the  entrance 
barks.  Can  I  believe  ?  or  do  those  in  love  form  to  themselves 
fantastic  dreams  ?  Cease  ;  for  Daphnis  comes  from  the  town  ; 
now  cease,  my  charms. 

ECLOGUE   IX. 

Virgil  having  .recovered  his  patrimony  through  the  favor  of  Augustus. 
devotes  this  pastoral  to  complain  against  Arius  the  centurion,  who  had 
possession  of  his  lands,  and  laid  a  plan  for  his  assassination. 

LYCIDAS,  MCERIS. 

L.  WHITHER,  Mceris,  do  thy  feet  [lead]1  thee?  are  you  for 
the  town,  whither  the  way  leads  ?  7"*/: 

"  Pontus,  a  country  of  Asia  Minor,  bordering  on  the  Euxine :  it  was 
the  kingdom  of  Mithridates  the  Great 

18  Rivoque  fluenti,  the  same  as  in  rivnm  fluentem,  of  which  construc- 
tion many  examples  occur  in  Virgil.  See  -<£n.  i.  293;  ii.  250;  v.  451; 
vi.  191;  viii.  591;  ix.  664;  xii.  283. 

"  Hylax,  the  name  of  a  dog. 

J  Supply  "  ducunt"  from  the  following  "  ducit."     B. 


ECL.  ix.  2—32.  BUCOLICS.  .  27 

M.  Ah,  Lycidas,  we  have  lived  to  see  the  day  when  an 
alien  possessor  of  my  little  farm  (what  we  never  appre- 
hended) may  say :  These  are  mine ;  old  tenants,  begone.  Now 
vanquished  and  disconsolate,  since  fortune  confounds  all 
things,  to  him  I  convey  these  kids,  of  which  I  wish  him  little 
good. 

L.  Surely  I  heard  that  your  Menalcas  had  saved  by  his 
verse  all  that  ground  where  the  hills  begin  to  decline,  and  by 
an  easy  declension  to  sink  down  their  ridges  as  far  as  the 
stream  and  now  broken  tops  of  the  old  beech. 

M.  Thou  heardst  it  Lycidas,  and  it  was  reported ;a  but 
our  verse  just  as  much  avails  amid  martial  arms,  as  they  say 
the  Chaonian3  pigeons  do,  when  the  eagle  comes  upon  them. 
But  had  not  the  ill-boding  raven,  from  a  hollow  holm-oak, 
warned  me  by  any  means  to  cut  short  the  rising  dispute, 
neither  your  Mceris  here,  nor  Menalcas  himself,  had  been 
alive. 

L.  Alas,  is  any  one  capable  of  so  great  wickedness  ?  Alas, 
Menalcas,  the  charms  of  thy  poetry  were  almost  snatched  from 
us  with  thyself !  Who  [then]  had  sung  the  nymphs  ?  who 
with  flowering  herbs  had  strewn  the  ground,  or  covered  with 
verdant  shades  the  springs  ?  or  who  [had  sung]  those  songs 
which  lately  I  secretly  stole  from  you,  when  you  used  to  re- 
sort to  our  darling  Amaryllis?  "Feed,  Tityrus,  my  goats  till 
I  return,  short  is  the  way ;  and  when  they  are  fed,  drive  them 
Tityrus,  to  watering ;  and  while  you  are  so  doing,  beware  of 
meeting  the  he-goat :  he  butts  with  the  horn." 

M.  Nay,  rather  these,  which  to  Varus,  and  yet  unfinished,  he 
sung :  "  Varus,  the  tuneful  swans  shall  raise  thy  name  aloft  to 
the  stars,  if  Mantua  remain  but  in  our  possession  ;  Mantua,  alas, 
too  near  unfortunate  Cremona  !"* 

L.  If  thou  retainest  any,  begin ;  so  may  thy  swarms  avoid 
Cyrnean  yews:5  so  may  thy  heifers,  fed  with  cytisus,  dis- 

5  I,  however,  prefer  putting  a  note  of  interrogation  after  "  audieras," 
with  Wagnar.     B.   . 

3  Chaonian  pigeons.     Chaonia  was  a  mountainous  part  of  Epirus,  in 
which  was  the  sacred  grove  of  Dodona,  where  pigeons  were  said  to  de- 
liver oracles. 

4  Cremona,  a  city  of  Italy  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  Po.     Its  lands 
were  divided  among  the  veteran  soldiers  of  Augustus. 

6  Cyrnean  yews.     Cyrnus,  now  Corsica,  an  island  in  the  Mediterra- 
nean, near  the  coast  of  Italy.     The  honey  produced  here  had  a  bitter 


28  .  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  ix.  32—59. 

tend  their  dugs.  The  Muses  have  also  made  me  a  poet :  I  too 
have  my  verses ;  and  the  shepherds  call  me  bard  :  but  to  them  I 
give  no  credit :  for  as  yet  methinks  I  sing  nothing  worthy  of  a 
Varus  or  a  Cinna,*  but  only  gabble  like7  a  goose  among  sonor- 
ous swans. 

M.  That  very  thing,  Lycidas,  is  what  I  am  about ;  and  now 
coa  it  over  in  silence  with  myself,  if  I  can  recollect  it :  nor  is 
it  a  vulgar  song.  "  Come  hither,  Galatea :  for  what  pleasure 
have  you  among  the  waves  ?  Here  is  blooming  spring ;  here, 
about  the  rivers,  earth  pours  forth  her  various  flowers ;  here  the 
white  poplar  overhangs  the  grotto,  and  the  limber  vines  weave 
shady  bowers.  Come  hither :  leave  the  mad  billows  to  buffet 
the  shores." 

L.  [But]  what  were  those  which  I  heard  you  singing  in  a 
clear  night  alone  ?  I  remember  the  air,  if  I  could  recollect  the 
words. 

M.  Daphnis,  why  gaze  you  on  the  risings  of  the  signs  of 
ancient  date  ?  Lo,  Dionaean  Caesar's8  star  hath  entered  on  its 
course ;  the  star  by  which  the  fields  were  to  rejoice  with  corn, 
and  by  which  the  grapes  on  sunny  hills  were  to  take  their  hue. 
Daphnis,  plant  thy  pear-tears.  Posterity  shall  pluck  the  fruit 
of  thy  plantations.  Age  bears  away  all  things,  even  the  mind 
itself.  Often,  I  remember,  when  a  boy,  I  spent  long  summer- 
days  in  song.  Now  all  these  songs  I  have  forgotten ;  now  the 
voice  itself  has  left  Moeris ;  the  wolves  have  seen  Moeris  first.9 
But  these  Menalcas  himself  will  often  recite  to  you. 

L.  By  framing  excuses  thou  puttest  off"  for  a  long  time  my 
fond  desire.  And  now  the  whole  main  for  thee  lies  smooth 
and  still ;  and  mark  how  every  whispering  breeze  of  wind  hath 
died  away.  Besides,  half  of  our  journey  still  remains  :  for 

taste,  in  consequence  of  the  bees  feeding  on  the  yew-trees,  with  which 
the  island  abounded. 

6  Ciuna,  a  grandson  of  Pompey,  the  intimate  friend  of  Augustus,  and 
patron  of  Virgil. 

7  The  poet  puns  upon  the  name  of  Anser,  a  cotemporary  poet     The 
saying  seems  proverbial ;  as  in  Symmachus,  Ep.  L  1,  "  Licet  inter  olores 
canoros  anserem  strepere."    B. 

*  Dionsei  Caesaris.     Caesar  of  the  Julian  family,  which  sprung  from 
^Eneas  the  son  of  Venus,  whom  Mythology  makes  the  daughter  of  Ju- 
piter and  Dione. 

*  Lupi  Mcerim  videre  priores.    Alluding  to  a  superstitious  notion,  that, 
if  a  wolf  saw  a  man  before  it  was  seen  by  him,  it  made  him  lose  his  voice. 


ECL.  ix.  60— 6t.    x.  1—12.    BUCOLICS.  29 

Bianor's10  tomb  begins  to  appear.  Here,  where  the  swains  are 
stripping  off  the  thick  leaves,  here,  Mceris,  let  us  sing.  Here  lay 
down  your  kids ;  yet  we  shall  reach  the  town.  Or  if  we  are 
afraid  that  the  night  may  gather  rain  before  [we  arrive],  yet  we 
may  still  go  on  singing ;  the  way  will  be  less  tedious.  That  we 
may  go  on  singing,  I  will  ease  you  of  this  burden. 

M.  Shepherd,  urge  me  no  more ;  and  let  us  mind  the  busi- 
ness now  in  hand.  We  shall  sing  those  tunes  to  more  advan- 
tage when  [Menalcas]  himself  arrives. 

ECLOGUE  X. 

Gallua,  to  whom  this  Eclogue  is  inscribed,  was  the  patron  of  Virgil,  a  sol- 
dier and  a  poet.  He  was  greatly  enamored  of  Cytheris,  whom  he  calls 
Lycoris,  celebrated  for  her  beauty  and  intrigues  •  but  she  forsook  him  for 
Mark  Anthony,  by  whom  she  was  in  turn  abandoned  for  Cleopatra, 

'-.-  ;•       '.  .   •••    '  •  •'  "••••">••  !-'**£ 
GALLCS. 

GRANT  unto  me,  O  Arethusa,1  this  last  essay.  A  few 
verses,  but  such  as  Lycoris  herself  may  read,  I  must  sing  to 
my  Gallus.  Who  can  deny  a  verse  to  Gallus?  So,  when 
thou  glidest  beneath  the  Sicilian  wave,  may  the  salt  Doris* 
not  intermingle  her  streams  [with  thine].  Begin  :  let  us  sing 
the  anxious  loves  of  Gallus,  while  the  flat-nosed  goats  browse 
the  tender  shrubs.  We  sing  not  to  the  deaf;  the  woods  re- 
ply to  all.  What  groves,  ye  virgin  Naiads,  or  what  lawns 
detained  you,  while  Gallus  pined3  with  ill-requited  love  ?  for 
neither  any  of  the  tops  of  Parnassus,  nor  those  of  Pindus,4 
nor  Aonian  Aganippe,  did  retard  you.  The  very  laurels,  the 
very  tamarisks  bemoaned  him :  even  pine-topped  Msenalus 
[bemoaned]  him  as  he  lay  beneath  a  lonely  rock,  and  over 

10  "  The  same  as  Ocnus,  of  whom  Virgil  says  in  the  tenth  Eclogue, 
Fatidicce  Mantus,  et  Thusci  jttius  Amnis.  He  was  the  founder  of  Man- 
tua." SEEVIUS.  B. 

1  Arethusa,  the  nymph  who  presided  over  the  fountain  of  the  same 
name  hi  Sicily. 

a  Doris,  a  sea-nymph,  the  mother  of  the  Nereids ;  here  used  to  ex- 
press the  sea  itself.  Naiads,  nymphs — goddesses  who  presided  over 
rivers  and  fountains. 

3  Observe  that  "  periret"  is  used  to  express  the  ITUKETO,  i.  e.  "  wasted 
away,"  of  Theocr.  i.  66.     B. 

4  Pindus,  a  mountain  between  Thessaly  and  Epirus,  sacred  to  Apollo 
and  the  Muses.     Aonian  Aganippe,  a  celebrated  fountain  of  Boeotia,  of 
which  Aonia  was  a  district. 


30  BUCOLICS.  ECL.  x.  13—47. 

him  the  stones  of  cold  Lycaeus5  wept.  His  sheep  too  stand 
around  him,  nor  are  they  ashamed  of  us ;  nor,  divine  poet,  be 
thou  ashamed  of  thy  flock;  even  fair  Adonis8  tended  sheep 
by  the  streams.  The  shepherd  too  came  up ;  the  slow-paced 
herdsmen  came;  Menalcas  came  wet  from  winter-mast.  All 
question  whence  this  thy  love  ?  Apollo  came :  Callus,  he 
says,  why  ravest  thou  thy  care  ?7  Lycoris  is  following  another 
through  snows  and  horrid  camps.  Silvanus"  too  came  up 
with  rural  honors  on  his  head,  waving  the  flowering  fennels 
and  big  lilies.  Pan,  the  god  of  Arcadia,  came ;  whcm  we 
ourselves  beheld  stained  with  the  elder's  purple  berries  and 
vermilion.  "What  bounds,  he  says,  will  you  set  [to  mourning]  ? 
Love  regards  not  such  matters.  Nor  cruel  love  with  tears, 
nor  grassy  meads  with  streams,  nor  bees  with  cytisus,  nor 
goats  with  leaves,  are  satisfied.  But  he,  overwhelmed  with 
grief,  said,  Yet*  you,  Arcadians,  shall  sing  these  my  woes  on 
your  mountains ;  ye  Arcadians,  alone  skilled  in  song.  Oh  how 
softly  then  may  my  bones  rest,  if  your  pipe  in  future  times 
shall  sing  my  loves !  And  would  to  heaven  I  had  been  one 
of  you,  and  either  keeper  of  your  flock,  or  vintager  of  the 
ripe  grape!  Sure  whether  Phyllis  or  Amyntas,  or  whoever 
else,  had  been  my  love  (what  though  Amyntas  be  swarthy  ? 
the  violet  is  black,  and  hyacinths  are  black),  they  would  Lave 
reposed  with  me  among  the  willows  under  the  limber  vine ; 
Phyllis  had  gathered  garlands  for  me,  Amyntas  would  have 
sung.  Here  are  cool  fountains;  here,  Lycoris,  soft  mer.ds, 
here  a  grove :  here  with  thee  I  could  consume  my  whole  life 
away.  Now  frantic  love  detains  me  in  the  service  of  rigid 
Mars,  in  the  midst  of  darts,  and  adverse  foes.  Thou,  far  from 
thy  native  land  (let  me  not  believe  it),  beholdest  nothing 
but  Alpine  snows,10  and  the  colds  of  the  Rhine,  ah,  hard- 

*  Lycseus,  a  mountain  of  Arcadia,  sacred  to  Jupiter,  and  also  to  Pan. 
8  Adonis,  a  youth,  the  favorite  of  Venus :  having  lost  his  life  by  the 
bite  of  a  wild  boar,  he  was  changed  into  the  flower  Anemone. 

7  ^Esch.   Choeph.    223,    u   <j>i/.arov   peAiyta  (i.    e.    "  cura'')    rV//e<T/v 
arpof.     B. 

8  Silvanus,  a  rural  deity  among  the  Romans,  who  presided  over  woods. 

9  But  Nonius  Marcell.  i.  s.  v.  triste  est  maestum,  connects   "tamen" 
with  "  ille,"  which  I  should  almost  prefer,  the  sense   being,  "  But  he 
(despite  ail  that  even  Pan  could  say)  yet  replied."  etc.     B. 

1J  Alpine  snows.     The  Alps  are  a  chain  of  mountains,  the  highest  in 
Europe,  separating  Italy  from  France,  Switzerland,  and  Austria.     The 


ECL.  x.  48—77.  BUCOLICS.  31 

hearted  one  !  alone,  without  me.  Ah,  may  neither  these  colds 
hurt  thee !  ah,  may  not  the  sharp  ice  wound  thy  tender  feet  I 
I  will  go,  and  warble  on  the  Sicilian  shepherd's-  reed  those 
songs  which  are  by  me  composed  in  Chalcidian  strain.11  I 
am  resolved,  rather  to  endure  [my  passion]  in  the  woods, 
among  the  dens  of  wild  beasts,  and  to  inscribe  my  loves  upon 
the  tender  trees  :  as  they  grow  up,  so  you,  my  loves,  will  grow. 
Meanwhile,  in  company  with  the  nymphs,  over  Maenalus  will 
I  range,  or  hunt  the  fierce  boars.  No  colds  shall  hinder  me 
from  traversing  with  my  hounds  the  Parthenian  lawns12  around. 
Now  over  rocks  and  resounding  groves  methinks  I  roam : 

f (leased  I  am  to  shoot  Cydonian  shafts  from  the  Parthian  bow : 
Fool  that  I  am  !]  as  if  these  were  a  cure  for  the  rage  of  love ; 
or  as  if  that  god  could  learn  to  be  softened  by  human  woes. 
Now,  neither  the  nymphs  of  the  groves,  nor  songs  themselves, 
charm  me  any  more  :  even  ye  woods,  once  more  farewell.  No 
suffering  can  change  him,  though  amid  frosts  we  drink  of 
Hebrus,13  and  undergo  the  Sithonian  snows14  of  rainy  winter; 
or  even  if  we  should  tend  our  flocks  in  Ethiopia,16  beneath  the 
sign  of  Cancer,  when  the  dying  rind  withers  on  the  stately  elm. 
Love  conquers  all  ;16  and  let  us  yield  to  love.  These  strains, 
ye  divine  Muses,  it  shall  suffice  your  poet  to  have  sung,  while 
he  sat  and  wove  his  little  basket  of  slender  osiers :  these  you 
will  make  acceptable  to  Gallus ;  to  Gallus,  for  whom  my  love 
grows  as  much  every  hour,  as  the  green  alder  shoots  up  in  the 
infancy  of  spring.  Let  us  arise :  the  shade  is  wont  to  prove 
noxious  to  singers ;  the  juniper's  shade  now  grows  noxious ; 
the  shades  are  hurtful  even  to  the  corn.  Go  home,  the  even- 
ing star  arises,  my  full-fed  goats,  go  home. 

Rhine,  a  celebrated  river  which  rises  in  the  Alps,  and,  after  a  course  of 
600  miles,  discharges  itself  into  the  German  Ocean. 

u  Chalcidian  strain,  that  is,  in  the  elegiac  strain  of  Euphorion,  a 
Greek  poet  of  Chalcis  in  Eubcea 

"  Parthenian  lawns.  Parthenius  was  a  mountain  of  Arcadia,  for 
which  it  is  here  .used ;  as  Cydonian  shafts  is  used  for  Cretan  darts — Cy- 
don  being  a  city  of  Crete. 

"  The  cold  of  the  Hebrus  in  Thrace  was  celebrated,  as  we  find  from 
Philippus  in  Anthol.  p.  47,  *E/3pou  6pi}iKiov  Kpvpti  Treiredrifievov  i/6up.  B. 

14  Sithonian  snows,  from  Sithonia,  a  part  of  Thrace. 

15  Ethiopia,  an  extensive  Country  of  Africa :  by  the  ancients,  this  name 
was  applied  to  modern  Abyssinia,  and  the  southern  regions  of  Africa. 

16  Heyne  finds  fault  with  the  abruptness  of  this  passage,  but  Anthon 
well  remarks,  that  "  this  line  is  meant  to  express  a  return  to  a  sounder 
mind."-    B. 


VIRGIL'S    GEORGICS, 


BOOK    I. 

This  admirable  Poem  was  undertaken  at  the  particular  request  of  that  great 
patron  of  poetry,  Maecenas,  to  whom  it  is  dedicated,  and  has  justly  been 
esteemed  the  most  perfect  and  finished  of  Virgil's  works.  Of  the  Four 
Books  of  which  it  consists,  the  First  treats  of  plowing  and  preparing  the 
ground ;  the  Second,  of  sowing  and  planting  ;  the  Third,  of  the  manage- 
ment of  cattle,  etc. ;  and  the  Fourth  gives  an  account  of  bees,  and  of  the 
manner  of  keeping  them  among  the  Romans. 

WHAT  makes  the  harvests  joyous ;  under  what  sign,  Maecenas, 
it  is  proper  to  turn  the  earth  and  join  the  vines  to  elms ;  what 
is  the  care  for  kine,  the  nurture  for  breeding;  sheep ;'  and 
how  much  experience  for  managing  the  frugal  bees ;  hence 
will  I  begin  to  sing.  Ye  brightest  lights"  of  the  world,  that 
lead  the  year  gliding  aloug  the  sky ;  Bacchus  and  fostering 
Ceres,  if  by  your  gift  mortals  exchanged  the  Chaoni:m  acorn 
for  fattening  ears  of  corn,  and  mingled  draughts  of  Achelous3 
with  the  invented  juice  of  the  grape ;  and  ye  Fauns  propitious 
to  swains,  ye  Fauns  and  Virgin  Dryads,  advance  your  foot  in 
tune  :  your  bounteous  gifts  I  sing.  Arid  thou,  O  Neptune,  to 
whom  the  earth,  struck  with  thy  mighty  trident,  first  poured 
forth  the  neighing  steed ;  and  thou,  tenant  of  the  groves,  for 
whom  three  hundred  snow-white  bullocks  crop  Csea's4  fertile 

1  Pecori.    Pecus  here,  as  opposed  to  boves,  signifies  the  lesser  cattle, 
as  sheep  and  goats,  but  especially  sheep ;  as  the  word,  I  think,  always 
signifies  in  Virgil  when  it  stands  by  itself.     See  EcL  i.  75  ;  iii.  1,  20,  34; 
v.  87.     Georg.  ii.  371. 

2  Vos,  6  clarissima  mundi,  etc.    Varro,  in  his  seventh  book  of  Agri- 
culture, invocates  the  sun  and  moon,  then  Bacchus  and  Ceres,  as  Yirgil 
does  here ;  which  sufficiently  confutes  those  who  take  the  words,  vos,  6 
clarissima  lumina,  to  be  meant  of  Bacchus  and  Ceres. 

*  Achelous  (Aspro  Potamo),  a  river  of  Epirus  in  Greece,  said  by  some 
to  have  been  the  first  river  that  sprung  from  the  earth  after  the  deluge ; 
hence  it  was  frequently  put  by  the  ancients,  as  it  is  here,  for  water. 
DAVIDSON.  Servius  observes,  "  Acheloum  generaliter,  propter  antiquita- 
tern  fluminis,  omnem  aquam  veteres  vocabant."  B. 

4  Caea  (Zea),  an  island  in  the  Archipelago,  one  of  the  Cyclades. 


B.  i.  16—43.  GEORGICS.  33 

thickets :  thou  too,  0  Pan,  guardian  of  the  sheep,  0  Tegesean* 
god,  if  thy  own  Maeualus  be  thy  care,  draw  nigh  propitious, 
leaving  thy  native  grove,  and  the  dells  of  Lycaeus  :  and  thou 
Minerva,  inventress  of  the  olive ;  and  thou,  O  boy,  teacher  of 
the  crooked  plow ;  and  thou,  Sylvanus,  bearing  a  tender 
cypress  plucked  up  by  the  root :  both  gods  and  goddesses  all, 
whose  province  it  is  to  guard  the  fields ;  both  ye  who  nourish 
the  infant  fruits  from  no  seed,  and  ye  who  on  the  sown  fruits 
send  down  the  abundant  shower  from  heaven. 

And  thou  too,  Caesar,  whom  it  is  yet  uncertain  what 
councils  of  the  gods  are  soon  to  have ;  whether  thou  wilt 
vouchsafe  to  visit  cities,  and  [undertake]  the  care  of  countries, 
and  the  widely  extended  globe  receive  thee,  giver  of  the 
fruits,  and  ruler  of  the  seasons,  binding  thy  temples  with  thy 
mother's  myrtle :  or  whether  thou  comest,  god  of  the  un- 
measured ocean,  and  mariners  worship  thy  divinity  alone ; 
whether  remotest  Thule8  is  to  be  subject  to  thee,  and  Tethys' 
to  purchase  thee  for  her  son-in-law  with  all  her  waves ;  or 
whether  thou  wilt  join  thyself  to  the  slow  months,  a  new  con- 
stellation, where  space  lies  open  between  Erigone  and  the 
[Scorpion's]  pursuing  claws :  the  fiery  Scorpion  himself  al- 
ready contracts  his  arms  and  leaves  for  thee  more  than  an 
equal  proportion  of  the  sky.  Whatever  thou  wilt  be  (for  let 
not  Tartarus*  expect  thee  for  its  king,  nor  let  such  dire  lust  of 
sway  once  be  thine  ;  though  Greece  admires  her  Elysian  fields, 
and  Proserpine,"  redemanded,  is  not  inclined  to  follow  her 
mother),  grant  me  an  easy  course,  and  favor  my  adventurous 
enterprise ;  and  pitying  me  with  the  swains  who  are  strangers 
to  their  way,  commence  [the  god],  and  accustom  thyself  even 
now  to  be  invoked  by  prayers. 

In  early  spring   when  melted   snow   glides  down  from  the 

*  Tegeaean  god.  Pan  is  so  called,  from  Tegea^  a  town  of  Arcadia>  in 
Greece,  which  was  sacred  to  him. 

8  Thule,  an  island  in  the  most  northern  parts  of  the  German  Ocean,  to 
which  the  ancients  gave  the  epithet  of  Ultima.  Some  suppose  that  it  is 
the  island  of  Iceland,  or  part  of  Greenland,  while  others  imagine  it  to  be 
the  Shetland  Isles. 

7  Tethys,  the  chief  of  the  sea-deities,  was  the  wife  of  Oceanus.     The 
word  is  often  used  by  the  poets  to  express  the  sea. 

8  Tartarus,  the  infernal  regions,  where,  according  to  the  ancients,  the 
most  impious  and  guilty  among  mankind  were  punished. 

8  Proserpine,  the  daughter  of  Ceres,  and  wife  of  Pluto,  who  stole  her 
away  as  she  was  gathering  flowers  in  the  plains  of  Enna  in  Sicily. 

2* 


34  GEORGICS.  a.  i.  44—67. 

hoary  hills,  and  the  crumbling  glebe  unbinds  itself  by  the 
zephyr;  then  let  my  steer  begin  to  groan  under  the  deep- 
pressed  plow,  and  the  share  worn  by  the  furrow  [begin]  to 
glitter.  That  field  at  last  answers  the  wishes  of  the  covetous 
farmer,  which  twice  hath  felt  the  sun,  twice  the  cold,"  har- 
vests immense  are  wont  to  burst  his  barns. 

But,  before  we  cleave  an  unknown  plain  with  the  plow- 
share, let  it  be  our  care  previously  to  learn  the  winds,  and 
various  character  of  the  climate,  the  ways  of  culture  practiced 
by  our  forefathers,  and  the  tillage  and  habits  of  the  soil ; 
what  each  country  is  apt  to  produce,  and  what  to  refuse. 
Here  grain,  there  grapes,  more  happily  grow ;  nurseries  of 
trees  elsewhere,  and  herbs  spontaneous  bloom.  Do  not  you 
see,  how  Tmolus11  sends  saffron  odors,  India  ivory,  the  soft 
Sabaeans  their  frankincense  ?  But  the  naked12  Chalybes  [send] 
steel,  Pontus  strong-scented  castor,  Epirus13  the  prime  of  the 
Olympic  mares.  These  laws  and  eternal  conditions  nature 
from  the  beginning  imposed  on  certain  places :  what  time 
Deucalion  first  cast  stones  into  the  unpeopled  world,  whence 
men,  a  hardy  race,  sprang  up.  Come  then,  let  your  sturdy 
steers  forthwith  turn  up  a  soil  that  is  rich  for  the  first  month 
of  the  year ;  and  let  the  dusty  summer  bake  the  scattered  clods 
with  mature  suns.  But,  if  the  land  be  not  fertile,  it  will  be 

10  Anthon  observes,  "The  usual  custom  of  the  Roman  farmers  was  to 
plow  the  land  three  times,  when  it  fell  under  the  denomination  of  hard 
land.     The  first  plowing  was  in  the  spring,  the  second  in  the  summer, 
the  third  in  autumn  (tertiabatur,  COLUM.  ii.  4).     In  this  way  the  ground 
was  exposed  twice  to  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  once  to  the  frost.     If,  how- 
ever, the  soil  was  unusually  hard  and  stubborn,  a  fourth  plowing  took 
place  at  the  end  of  autumn  or  beginning  of  winter ;  and  it  is  to  such  a 
process  that  the  poet  here  alludes,  the  land  having  thus,  in  the  course  of 
its  four  upturnings  with  the  plow,  twice  felt  the  sun  and  twice  the  cold." 

11  Tmolus,  a  mountain  of  Lydia,  in  Asia  Minor,  abounding  in  vines, 
saffron,  etc.     Sabaeans,  the  inhabitants  of  Saba,  a  town  of  Arabia,  famous 
for  frankincense,  myrrh,  and  aromatic  plants.     Chalybes,  a  people  of 
Pontus,  in  Asia  Minor ;  their  country  abounded  in  iron  mines. 

IJ  If  "nudi"  be  correct,  Virgil  must  speak  of  the  Chalys  only  as 
lightly  clad  (leviter  vestiti),  as  in  his  direction  to  husbandmen  "to 
plow  and  sow  naked."  But  although  this  would  be  a  very  proper 
way  of  speaking  among  people  acquainted  with  this  limitation  of  mean- 
ing, yet  it  seems  scarcely  an  apt  epithet  for  a  barbarian  tribe,  dwelling 
in  a  cold  region.  Some  years  since,  I  proposed  to  read  "  duri."  See  the 
supplement  to  my  notes  on  ApuL  de  Deo  Socr.  B. 

"  Epirus  (Albania),  a  country  of  Greece,  famous  for  its  fine  breed  of 
horses. 


B.  I.  68—96.  GEOEGICS.  35 

enough  to  raise  it  up  with  a  light  furrow,  even  toward  the 
rising  of  Arcturus  :14  in  the  former  case,  lest  weeds  obstruct 
the  joyous  corn ;  in  the  latter,  less  the  scanty  moisture  for- 
sake the  barren  sandy  soil. 

You  will  likewise  suffer  your  lands  after  reaping  to  lie  fal- 
low every  other  year,  and  the  exhausted  field  to  harden  by 
repose.  Or,  changing  the  season,  you  will  sow  there  yellow 
wheat,  whence  before  you  have  taken  up  the  joyful  pulse, 
with  rustling  pods,  or  the  vetch's  slender  offspring  and  the 
bitter  lupine's  brittle  stalks,  and  rustling  grove.  For  a  crop 
of  flax  burns16  the  land:  as  burn  the  oats  and  poppies  im- 
pregnated with  Lethsean  sleep."  But  yet  your  labor  will  be 
easy  [even  though  you  should  sow  these  kinds  of  grain]  every 
other  year,  provided  only  you  be  not  backward  to  saturate 
the  parched  soil  with  rich  dung,  or  to  scatter  sordid  ashes 
upon  the  exhausted  lands:  thus,  too,  your  land  will  rest  by 
changing  the  grain.  Nor,  in  the  meantime,  will  there  be 
ungratefulness. 

Often,  too,  it  has  been  of  use  to  set  fire  to  barren  lands,  and 
burn  the  light  stubble  in  crackling  flames :  whether  the  land 
thence  receives  secret  strength  and  rich  nourishment  from  a 
field  left  fallow;  or  whether  every  vicious  quality  is  exhaled 
by  the  fire  and  the  superfluous  moisture  sweats  off ;  or  whether 
the  heat  opens  more  passages,  and  secret  pores,  through  which 
the  sap  may  come  to  the  tender  blades ;  or  whether  it  hardens 
more,  and  binds  the  gaping  veins ;  that  the  small  showers, 
or  keen  influence  of  the  violent  sun,  or  penetrating  cold  of 
Boreas,  may  not  parch  it  up. 

He,  too,  greatly  benefits  the  land,  who  breaks  the  sluggish 
clods  with  harrows,  and  drags  osier  hurdles  over  them  (nor 
does  yellow  Ceres  view  him  from  high  Olympus,17  to  no 

14  Arcturus,  a  star  near  the  tail  of  Ursa  Major,  whose  rising  and  set- 
ting was  supposed  to  portend  great  tempests.     In  the  time  of  Virgil,  it 
rose  about  the  middle  of  September. 

15  i.  e.  exhausts.     Virgil  does  not  forbid  the  sowing  of  flax  and  pop- 
pies, but  explains  that,  from  their  exhausting  nature,  they  are  bad  crops 
in  rotation  after  wheat.    So  Anthon.     B. 

16  Lethasan  sleep.     Lethe  was  one  of  the  rivers  of  hell,  whose  waters 
had  the  power  of  causing  forgetfulness.  • 

"  Olympus,  a  lofty  mountain  on  the  confines  of  Thessaly  and  Mace- 
donia, separated  from  Ossa  by  the  vale  of  Tempe.  The  ancients  sup- 
posed that  it  touched  the  heavens  with  its  top,  and  on  that  account  the 
poets  made  it  the  residence  of  the  gods. 


36  aEORGICS.  B.  i.  97—130. 

purpose),  and  he  also  who,  after  the  plain  has  been  torn,  again 
breaks  through  the  land;  that  raises  up  its  ridges,  turning 
the  plow  across,18  and  gives  it  frequent  exercise  and  rules 
his  lands  imperiously. 

Pray,  ye  swains,  for  moist  summers  and  serene  winters. 
In  winter's  dust  most  joyful  is  the  corn,  joyful  is  the  field. 
On  no  culture  does  Mysia19  so  much  pride  herself,  and  [hence] 
even  Gargarus  admires  his  own  harvest. 

What  shall  I  say  of  him,  who,  immediately  after  sowing 
the  seed,  presses  on  the  lands,  and  levels  the  heaps  of  barren 
sand ;  then  on  the  sown  corn  drives  the  stream  and  ductile 
rills?  and  when  the  field  is  scorched  with  raging  heat,  the 
herbs  all  dying,  lo !  from  the  brow  of  a  hilly  tract  he  decoys 
the  torrent ;  which  falling  down  the  smooth  rocks,  awakes 
the  hoarse  murmur,  and  with  gurgling  streams  allays  the 
thirsty  lands  ? 

What  of  him  who,  lest  the  stalk  with  over-loaded  ears  bend 
to  the  ground,  feeds  down  the  luxuriance  of  the  crop  in  the 
tender  blade,  when  first  the  springing  corn  equals  the  fur- 
rows ;  and  who  drains  from  soaking  sand  the  collected  moist- 
ure of  the  marsh,  chiefly  when,  in  the  changeable  months,  the 
swelling  river  overflows,  and  overspreads  all  around  with  slimy 
mud,  whence  the  hollow  dikes  sweat  with  tepid  vapor  ? 

After  all  (when  the  labors  of  men  and  oxen  have  tried 
these  expedients  in  cultivating  the  ground),  the  voracious 
goose,  the  Strymonian"0  cranes,  and  succory  with  its  bitter 
roots,  and  even  the  shades  are  in  some  degree  injurious.  The 
Sire  himself  willed  the  ways  of  tillage  not  to  be  easy,  and  first 
aroused  the  fields  by  art,  whetting  the  skill  of  mortals  with 
care ;  nor  suffered  he  his  reign  to  lie  inactive  in  heavy  sloth. 
Before  Jove,  no  husbandmen  subdued  the  fields ;  nor  was  it 
even  lawful  to  mark  out,  or  by  limits  divide  the  ground. 
They  made  all  things  common  gain,  and  earth  of  herself  pro- 
duced every  thing  freely  without  any  one  asking.  He  infused 
the  noxious  poison  into  the  horrid  serpent,  commanded  the 
wolves  to  'prowl,  and  the  sea  to  be  stirred ;  and  he  shook  the 

M.  A  description  of  "  cross-plowing."     B. 

19  Mysia,  a  country  .of  Asia  Minor,  bordering  on  Troas.  Gargarus,  a 
mountain,  or  rather  a  part  of  Mount  Ida,  in  Troas. 

80  Strymonian  cranes.  Strymon,  a  river  of  Macedonia,  the  ancient 
boundary  between  that  country  and  Thrace. 


B.  I.  131—164.  aEOBGICS.  37 

honey  from  -the  leaves,  removed  fire,  and  restrained  the  wine 
that  ran  commonly  in  rivulets ;  that  experience,  by  dint  of 
thought,  might  gradually  hammer  out  the  various  arts,  in 
furrows  seek  the  blade  of  corn,  and  from  the  veins  of  flint 
strike  out  the  hidden  fire.  Then  first  the  rivers  felt  the  ex- 
cavated alders  ;  then  the  seamen  gave  the  stars  their  numbers 
and  their  names,  the  Pleiades,21  Hyades,  and  the  bright 
bear  of  Lycaon.  Then  were  invented  [the  arts  of]  catching 
wild  beasts  in  toils,  deceiving  with  birdlime,  and  encom- 
passing the  spacious  lawn  with  hounds.  And  now  one  seek- 
ing the  depths,  lashes  the  broad  river  with  his  casting-net; 
and  on  the  sea  another  drags  his  humid  lines  along.  Then 
[arose]  the  rigid  force  of  steel,  and  the  flat  blade  of  the  grating 
saw  (for  the  first  mortals  cleft  the  splitting  wood  with  wedges) ; 
then  various  arts  ensued.  Incessant  labor  and  want,  in  hard- 
ships pressing,  surmounted  every  obstacle.  Ceres  first  taught 
mortals  with  steel  to  turn  the  ground :  when  now  the  acorns 
and  arbutes  of  the  sacred  wood  failed,  and  Dodona22  refused 
sustenance.  Soon  too  was  distress  inflicted  on  the  corn ;  when 
noxious  mildew  eat  the  stalks,  and  the  lazy  thistle  shot  up  its 
horrid  spikes  in  the  field.  The  crops  of  corn  die ;  a  prickly 
wood  succeeds,  burs  and  caltrops,  and,  amid  the  shining 
fields,  unhappy  darnel  and  barren  wild  oats  bear  sway.  But 
unless  you  both  vex  the  ground  by  continual  harrowings,  fright 
away  the  birds  with  a  noise,  and  with  the  pruning-knife  re- 
strain the  shades  of  the  shaded  field,  and  by  prayers  call 
down  the  showers;  alas,  [while  thy  labor  proves]  in  vain, 
thou  wilt  view  another's  ample  store,  and  in  the  woods  solace 
thy  hunger  by  shaking  [acorns]  from  the  oak. 

We  must  also  describe  what  are  the  instruments  used  by  the 
hardy  swains,  without  which  the  crops  could  neither  be  sown 
nor  spring.  First,  the  share,  and  the  heavy  timber  of  the  curved 
plow,  and  the  slow-rolling  wains  of  the  Eleusinian  mother, 
Ceres,  and  sledges  and  drags,  and  harrows  of  unwieldy  weight ; 

21  Pleiades,  a  name  given  to  the  seven  daughters  of  Atlas  and  Pleione, 
made  a  constellation  in  the  heavens.    Hyades,  the  five  daughters  of  Atlas, 
who  were  also  changed  into  stars,  and  placed  in  the  constellation  Taurus. 
Bear  of  Lycaon.     Calisto,  the  daughter  of  Lycaon,  was  changed  by  Juno 
into  a  bear,  but  Jupiter  made  her  the  constellation  Ursa  Major. 

22  Dodona,  an  ancient  city  of  Epirus,  in  Greece,  where  was  a  sacred 
grove,  with  a  celebrated  oracle  and  temple  of  Jupiter. 


38  GEORGICS.  B.  i.  165—194. 

besides  the  mean  osier  furniture  of  Celeus,"  arbute  hurdles, 
and  the  mystic  fan  of  Bacchus ;  all  which,  with  mindful  care, 
you  will  provide  long  beforehand,  if  glory  of  a  blissful  coun- 
try duly  awaits  thee.  In  the  first  place,24  in  the  woods  an  elm, 
bent  with  vast  force,  is  subdued  into  the  plow  tail,  and  re- 
ceives the  form  of  the  crooked  plow.  To  this,  at  the  lower 
end,  are  fitted  a  beam  extended  to  eight  feet,  two  earth-boards, 
and  share-beams  with  a  double  back.  The  light  linden  also 
is  felled  beforehand  for  the  yoke,  and  the  tall  beech,  and  the 
plow-staff,  to  turn  the  bottom  of  the  carriage  behind ;  and 
the  smoke  seasons"  the  timber  hung  up  in  the  chimneys. 

I  can  recite  to  you  many  precepts  of  the  ancients,  unless 
you  decline  them,  and  think  it  not  worth  while  to  learn  these 
trifling  cares.  The  thrashing-floor  chiefly  must  be  leveled 
with  the  huge  roller,  and  wrought  with  the  hand,  and  con- 
solidated with  binding  chalk,  that  weeds  may  not  spring  up, 
and  that  overpowered  with  drought  it  may  not  chap.  Then 
various  pests  baffle  us ;  often  the  diminutive  mouse  has  built 
its  cell,  and  made  its  granaries  ;  or  the  moles,  deprived  of 
sight,  have  dug  their  lodges  under  ground ;  and  in  the  cavities 
has  the  toad  been  found,  and  vermin  which  the  earth  produces 
in  abundance ;  the  weevil  plunders  vast  heaps  of  corn,  and 
the  ant,  fearful  of  helpless  old  age. 

Observe  also,  when  the  almond28  shall  clothe  itself  abund- 
antly with  blossom  in  the  woods,  and  bend  its  fragrant 
boughs :  if  the  rising  fruit  abound,  in  like  quantity  the  corn 
will  follow,  and  a  great  thrashing  with  great  heat  will  ensue. 
But,  if  the  shady  boughs  abound  with  luxuriance  of  leaves,  in 
vain  the  floor  shall  bruise  the  stalks,  fertile  only  in  chaff. 

I  have,  indeed,  seen  many  sowers  artificially  prepare  their 
seeds,  and  steep  them  first  in  saltpeter  and  black  lees  of  oil, 

"  Celeus,  a  king  of  Eleusis,  was  the  father  of  Triptolemus,  whom  Ce- 
res instructed  in  husbandry. 

24  The  order  is,  "  ulmus  flexa  in  silvis  magna  vi  domatur  in  burim,  et 
aceipit  formam  curvi  aratri."  ANTHON. 

™  Literally,  "explores,"  "searches,"  i.  e.,  to  see  if  there  be  any  • 
chinks.    B. 

as  The  term  nux  is  employed  by  the  Roman  writers  in  an  extended 
sense,  to  denote  the  almond,  the  walnut,  the  hazel-nut  tree,  etc.  Most 
commonly,  however,  an  epithet  is  added,  to  make  the  meaning  more 
definite ;  thus,  nuxjuglans,  "  the  walnut ;"  nux  amygdala,  "  the  almond ;" 
nux  avellana,  "  the  hazel-nut  or  filbert,"  etc.  ANTHON. 


B.  i.  195—223.  GEORGICS.  39 

that  the  produce  might  be  larger  in  the  fallacious  pods.  And 
though,  being  hastened,  they  were  soaked  over  a  slow  fire, 
selected  long,  and  proved  with  much  labor,  yet  have  I  seen 
them  degenerate,  unless  human  industry  with  the  hand  culled 
out  the  largest  every  year.  Thus  all  things,  by  destiny,  hasten 
to  decay,27  and  gliding  away,  insensibly  are  driven  backward ; 
not  otherwise  than  he  who  rows  hjs  skiff  with  much  ado  against 
the  stream,  if  by  chance  he  slackens  his  arms,  and  the  tide 
hurries  him  headlong  down  the  river. 

Further,  the  stars  of  Arc  turns,  and  the  days  of  the  Kids, 
and  the  shining  Dragon,  must  be  as  much  observed  by  us,  as 
by  those  who,  homeward  borne  across  the  main,  attempt  the 
[Euxine]  Sea,28  and  the  straits  of  oyster-breeding  Abydos.29 

When  Libra  makes  the  hours  of  day  and  night  equal,  and 
now  divides  the  globe  in  the  middle  between  light  and  shades, 
work  your  steers,  ye  swains,  sow  barley  in  the  fields,  till  toward 
the  last  shower  of  the  inclement  winter  solstice.  Then,  too,  is 
the  time  to  hide  in  the  ground  a  crop  of  flax,  and  the  poppy 
of  Ceres,  and  high  time  to  ply  your  harrows  ;  while  the  ground, 
yet  dry,  you  may,  while  the  clouds  are  yet  suspended. 

In  the  spring  is  the  sowing  of  beans :  then  thee  too,  O 
Medic  plant  !30  the  rotten  furrows  receive,  and  millet  comes, 
an  annual  care,  when  the  bright  Bull  with  gilded  horns  opens 
the  year,  and  the  Dog  sets,  giving  way  to  the  backward  star. 
But  if  you  labor  the  ground  for  a  wheat-harvest  and  sturdy 
grain,  and  are  bent  on  bearded  ears  alone,  let  the  Pleiades 
in  the  morning  be  set,  and  let  the  Gnosian  star31  of  [Ariadne's] 
blazing  Crown  depart,  before  you  commit  to  the  furrows  the 

97  The  infinitive  is  used  absolutely  to  signify  what  is  wont  to  hap- 
pen. B. 

38  The  Euxine  (or  Black)  Sea  is  situated  between  Europe  and  Asia, 
and  communicates  with  the  Mediterranean  by  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and 
the  Dardanelles. 

29  Abydos,  a  city  of  Asia  Minor,  on  the  Hellespont  (Dardanelles), 
opposite  to  Sestos,  in  Thrace;  famous  for  the  bridge  of  boats  which 
Xerxes  made  there  across  the  Hellespont,  when  he  invaded  Greece ;  and 
for  the  loves  of  Hero  and  Leander. 

80  Medic  plant,  a  species  of  trefoil,  so  called,  because  introduced  from 
Media  into  Greece. 

31  Gnosian  star,  etc.,  Ariadne's  crown,  consisting  of  seven  stars,  so 
called  from  Gnosus,  a  city  of  Crete,  where  Minos,  the  father  of  Ariadne, 
reigned.  Maia,  one  of  the  Pleiades.  Bootes,  a  constellation  near  the 
Ursa  Major,  or  Great  Bear. 


40  &EORGICS.  B.  I.  224—256. 

seed  designed,  and  before  you  hasten  to  trust  to  the  unwilling 
earth  the  hopes  of  the  year.  Many  have  begun  before  the 
setting  of  Maia;  but  the  expected  crop  hath  mocked  them 
with  empty  ears.  But  if  you  are  to  sow  vetches,  and  cheap 
kidney-beans,  nor  despise  the  care  of  the  Egyptian  lentil ;  set- 
ting Bootes  will  afford  thee  signs  not  obscure.  Begin,  and 
extend  thy  sowing  to  the  middle  of  the  frosts. 

For  this  purpose,  the  golden  sun,  through  the  twelve  con- 
stellations of  the  world,  rules  the  globe  measured  out  into 
certain  portions.  Five  zones  embrace  the  heavens ;  whereof 
one  is  ever  glowing  with  the  bright  sun,  and  scorched  forever 
by  his  fire ;  round  which  two  furthest  ones  to  the  right  and 
left  are  extended,  stiff  with  cerulean  ice  and  horrid  showers. 
Between  these  and  the  middle  zones,  two  by  the  bounty  of  the 
gods  are  given  to  weak  mortals ;  and  a  path  is  cut  through  both, 
where  the  series  of  the  signs  might  revolve  obliquely.  As 
the  world  rises  high  toward  Scythia  and  Riphsean"  hills  ;  so 
sloping  downward  it  is  depressed  toward  the  south  winds  of 
Libya,3'  The  one  pole  to  us  is  always  elevated ;  but  the  other, 
under  our  feet,  is  seen  by  gloomy  Styx34  and  the  ghosts  below.35 
Here,  after  the  manner  of  a  river,  the  huge  Dragon  glides 
away  with  tortuous  windings,  around  and  through  between  the 
Bears  ;  the  Bears  that  fear  to  be  dipped  in  the  ocean.  There, 
as  they  report,  either  dead  night  forever  reigns  in  silence, 
and,  outspread,  wraps  all  things  up  in  darkness ;  or  else  Au- 
rora3' returns  thither  from  us,  and  brings  them  back  the  day  ; 
and  when  the  rising  sun  firsts  breathes  on  us  with  panting 
steeds,  there  ruddy  Vesper  lights  up  his  late  illuminations. 

Hence  we  are  able  to  foreknow  the  seasons  in  the  dubious 
sky,  hence  the  days  of  harvest,  and  the  time  of  sowing ;  and 
when  it  is  proper  to  sweep  the  faithless  sea  with  oars,  when 
to  launch  the  armed  fleets,  or  to  fell  the  pine  in  the  woods  in 

*'  Riphsean  hills,  in  the  north  of  Scythia,  near  the  rivers  Tanais  and 
Rha. 

33  Libya,  an  extensive  country  of  Africa,  lying  between  Egypt  and  the 
Syrtis  Major ;  by  the  ancients  it  was  often  applied  to  Africa  in  general. 

34  Styx,  one  of  the  rivers  of  hell,  round  which  it  was  said  to  flow  nine 
times.     The  gods  held  the  waters  of  the  Styx  in  such  veneration,  that 
they  always  swore  by  them ;  an  oath  which  was  inviolable. 

'*  So  "profunda  Juno,"  for  Proserpine,  In  Claudian,  de  Vap.  i.  2.    B. 
38  Aurora,  the  goddess  of  the  morning.     Vesper,  the  evening  star ; 
often  used  for  the  evening,  as  Aurora  is  for  the  morning. 


B.  L  257—282.  GEORGICS.  41 

season.  Xor  in  vain  do  we  study  the  settings  and  the  risings 
of  the  signs,  and  the  year  equally  divided  into  four  different 
seasons. 

If  at  any  time  a  bleak  shower  confines  the  husbandman, 
then  is  his  time  to  do  many  things  in  season,  wnicb,  as  soon 
as  the  sky  is  serene,  would  have  to  be  done  with  expedition.37 
The  plowman  sharpens  the  hard  edge-  of  the  blunted  share, 
scoops  little  boats  from  trees,  or  stamps  the  mark  on  the 
sheep,  or  the  number  on  his  sacks.  Others  sharpen  stakes 
and  two-horned  forks,  and  prepare  Amerine  [osier]  bands'* 
for  the  limber  vine.  Now  let  the  pliant  basket  of  bramble 
twigs  be  woven  ;  now  parch  your  grain  over  the  fire,  now 

frind  it  with  the  stone  :  for  even  on  holy-days,  divine  and 
uman  laws  permit  to  perform  some  works.  No  religion 
hath  forbidden  to  clear  the  channels,  to  raise  a  fence  before 
the  corn,  to  lay  snares  for  birds,  to  fire  the  thorns,  and  plunge 
in  the  wholesome  river  a  flock  of  bleating  sheep.  Often  the 
driver  of  the  sluggish  ass  loads  his  ribs  with  oil,  or  common 
apples ;  and,  in  his  return  from  the  town,  brings  back  an  in- 
dented mill-stone,  or  a  mass  of  black  pitch. 

The  moon,  too,  hath  allotted  days  auspicious  to  works,  some 
in  one  order,  some  in  another.  Shun  the  fifth  :  [on  this]  pale 
Pluto38  and  the  Furies  were  born.  Then  at  an  unholy  birth 
the  earth  brought  forth  Coeus,40  lapetus,  and  savage  Typhoeus, 
and  the  brothers  who  conspired  to  tear  down  the  skies.  For 
thrice  did  they  essay  to  pile  Ossa41  upon  Pelion,  and  to  roll 
woody  Olympus  upon  Ossa :  thrice  the  Sire,  with  his  thun- 

"  So  this  line  appears  to  be  explained  by  Nonius  Marc.  L  p.  512,  and 
M acrob.  Sat.  vL  3.  "  Maturare"  at  times  is  nearly  identical  with  "  pro- 
perare. "  B. 

88  Amerine  bands,  from  Ameria,  a  city  of  TJmbria,  in  Italy,  which 
abounded  in  osiers. 

*'J  Pluto,  in  ancient  mythology,  was  the  son  of  Saturn  and  Ops,  and 
brother  to  Jupiter  and  Neptune ;  in  the  division  of  his  father's  empire, 
the  kingdom  of  Hell  was  allotted  to  him. 

40  Coeus,  lapetus,  etc.,  famous  giants,  sons  of  Coelus  and  Terra,  who, 
according  to  the  poets,  made  war  against  the  gods ;  but  Jupiter  at  last 
put  them  to  flight  with  his  thunderbolts,  and  crushed  them  under  Mount 
JEtna,  in  Sicily. 

41  Ossa,  Pelion,  etc.,  celebrated  mountains  of  Thessaly,   in  Greece, 
which  the  giants,  in  their  war  against  the  gods,  were  feigned  to  have 
heaped  on  each  other,  that  they  might  with  more  facility  scale  the  wall* 
of  heaven. 


42  GEORGICS.  B.  I.  283—313. 

der,  overthrew  the  piled-up  mountains.  The  seventh,  next 
to  the  tenth,  is  lucky  both  to  plant  the  vine,  and  hreak  the 
oxen  caught,  and  to  add  the  woof  to  the  warp  :  the  ninth  is 
better  for  flight,  adverse  to  thefts.4*  Many  works  too  have 
succeeded  better  in  the  cool  night ;  or  when  morning  sprin- 
kles the  earth  with  the  rising  sun.  By  night  the  light  stub- 
ble, by  night  the  parched  meadows,  are  better"  shorn :  the 
clammy  dews  fail  not  by  night.  And  some  by  the  late  fires 
of  the  winter  light,  watch  all  night,  and  with  the  sharp  steel 
point  torches.  Meanwhile,  his  spouse,  cheering  by  song  her 
tedious  labor,  runs  over  the  webs  with  the  shrill  shuttle  ;  or 
over  the  fire  boils  down  the  liquor  of  the  luscious  must,  and 
skims  with  leaves  the  tide  of  the  trembling  caldron. 

But  reddening  Ceres  is  cut  down  in  noontide  heat ;  and  in 
noontide  heat  the  floor  thrashes  out  the  parched  grain.  Plow 
naked,44  sow  naked  :  winter  is  an  inactive  time  for  the  hind. 
In  the  cold  weather  the  farmers  mostly  enjoy  the  fruit  of  their 
labor,  and,  rejoicing  with  one  another,  provide  mutual  enter- 
tainments :  the  genial  winter  invites  them,  and  relaxes  their 
cares ;  as  when  weather-beaten  ships  have  reached  the  port, 
and  the  joyous  mariners  have  planted  garlands  on  the  sterns. 
But  it  then  is  the  time  both  to  strip  the  mast  of  oak,  and  the 
bay-berries,  the  olive,  and  the  bloody  myrtle-berries ;  then  to 
set  springes  for  cranes,  and  nets  for  stags,  and  to  pursue  the 
long-eared  hares  ;  and  whirling  the  hempen  thongs  of  the 
Baleariau46  sling,  to  pierce  the  does,  when  the  snow  lies  deep, 
when  the  rivers  hurtle  down  the  ice. 

Why  should  I  speak  of  the  storms46  and  constellations  of 
autumn  ?  and  what  must  be  guarded  against  by  swains  when 
the  day  is  now  shorter,  and  the  summer  milder  ?  or  when  the 

41  Anthon  remarks,  "  The  ninth  day  would  be  favorable  for  the  run- 
away, since  the  moon  would  then  be  of  sufficient  age  to  give  a  good  light, 
and  help  him  on  his  way.  For  this  very  reason,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
would  be  unfavorable  for  the  thief,  who  prefers  darkness."  Voss.  ad  loc. 

41  I  think  the  harmony  of  this  verse  will  be  increased  by  transposing, 
thus,  "  Nocte  leves  stipulse  melius,"  as  it  is  quoted  by  Jul.  Rufin.  Schem. 
Lex.  6.  p.  31,  ed.  Ruhnk.  B. 

44  i.  e.,  in  thin  attire.     B. 

15  Balearian  sling,  from  the  Baleares ;  a  name  given  to  the  islands  of 
Majorca  and  Minorca,  in  the  Mediterranean,  because  the  inhabitants  were 
expert  slingera. 

*"  Nonius,  i.  s.  v.  tempestas,  limits  the  sense  of  this  word  to  "  turbo 
vcntorum,"  I  think,  scarcely  with  reason.  B. 


B.  I.  313—346.  GEORGICS.  43 

showery  springs  pours  down,  the  spiky  harvest  bristles  in  the 
fields,  and  the  milky  corn  swells  in  the  green  stalk  ?  Oft  have 
I  seen,  when  the  farmer  had  just  brought  the  reaper  into  the 
yellow  fields,  and  was  binding  up  the  barley  with  the  brittle 
straw,  all  the  battles  of  the  winds  engage,  which  far  and  wide 
tore  up  the  full-loaded  corn  from  the  lowest  roots,  and  tossed 
it  up  :  just  so,  with  blackening  whirlwind,  a  wintery  storm 
•would  drive  light  straw  and  flying  stubble.  Often  also  an- 
immense  march  of  waters  gathers  in  the  sky,  and  clouds,  col- 
lected from  on  high,  brew  thick  an  ugly  storm  of  black  show- 
ers :  the  lofty  sky  pours  down,  and  with  storms  of  rain  sweeps 
away  the  joyful  corn,  and  toils  of  steers  :  the  ditched  are  filled, 
and  the  hollow  rivers47  swell  with  roaring,  and  in  the  steam- 
ing friths  the  sea  boils.  The  Sire  himself,  amid  a  night  of  - 
clouds,  launches  the  thunders  with  his  flaming  right  hand  : 
with  the  violence  of  which  mighty  earth  trembles:  the  beasts 
are  fled,  and  through  the  nations  lowly  fear  hath  sunk  the 
hearts  of  men.  He  with  his  flaming  bolt  strikes  down  or 
Athos,"  or  Rhodope,  or  high  Ceraunia  :49  the  south  winds 
redouble,  and  the  shower  is  more  and  more  condensed  ;  now 
woods,  now  shores,  moan  'neath  the  mighty  blast. 

This  dreading,  observe  the  months  and  constellations  of  the 
heavens  :  which  way  the  cold  star  of  Saturn  shapes  his  course, 
into  what  circuits  Mercury's  fiery  planet  wanders  in  heaven. 
Above  all,  venerate  the  gods  ;  and  renew  to  great  Ceres  the 
sacred  annual  rites,60  offering  up  thy  sacrifice  upon  the  joyous 
turf,  at  the  expiration  of  the  last  days  of  winter,  when  the 
spring  .is  serene.  Then  the  lambs  are  fat,  and  then  the  wines 
most  mellow  ;  then  slumbers  on  the  hills  are  sweet,  and  thick 
the  shades.  For  thee  let  all  the  rural  youths  adore  Ceres  ;  to 
whom  mix  thou  the  honey-comb  with  milk  and  gentle  wine  ; 
and  thrice  let  the  auspicious  victim  go  round  the  recent  grain  ; 
which  let  the  whole  chorus  of  thy  companions  accompany  in 


47  i.  e.  the  mountain  streams.    Hesych.  6a?.acaa.  Kotf.rj,  rj  xst^piac.  B. 

48  Athos,  a  lofty  mountain  of  Macedonia,  in  Greece,  on  a  peninsula  : 
it  is  now  called  Monte  Santo,  from  the  number  of  monasteries  erected 
upon  it.     Ceraunia,  large  mountains  of  Epirus,  in  Greece,  stretching  out 
far  into  the  Adriatic. 

43  "  Acroceraunia"  is  more  usual.     Servius  on  ./En.  iii.     B. 

50  The  poet  here  alludes  to  the  Ambarvalia,  a  festival  in  honor  of 
Ceres,  and  which  was  so  called  because  the  victim  was  led  around  the 
fields  (quod  victima  ambiret  arva)  before  it  was  sacrificed.  ANTHON. 


44  GEORGICS.  B.  L  347—383. 

jovial  mood,  and  with  acclamation  invite  Ceres  into  their 
dwellings ;  nor  let  any  one  put  the  sickle  to  the  ripe  corn, 
till,  in  honor  of  Ceres,  having  his  temples  bound  with 
wreathed  oak,  he  dance  in  measure  uncouth,  and  sing  hvmns. 

And  that  we  may  learn  these  things  by  certain  signs,  both 
heats  and  rains,  and  cold-bringing  winds,  the  Sire  himself  has 
appointed  what  the  monthly  moon  should  betoken ;  under 
what  sign  the  south  winds  should  fall ;  from  what  common 
observations  the  husbandman  should  learn  to  keep  his  herds 
nearer  their  stalls. 

Straightway,  when  winds  are  rising,  the  friths  of  the  sea 
with  tossirigs  begin  to  swell,  and  a  dry  crashing  noise  to  be 
heard  in  the  high  mountains ;  or  the  far-sounding  shores  to 
be  disturbed,  and  the  murmurs  of  the  grove  to  increase.  Now 
hardly  the  billows  refrain  themselves  from  the  crooked  ships, 
when  the  cormorants  fly  swiftly  back  from  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
and  send  their  screams  to  the  shore ;  and  when  the  sea-coots 
sport  on  the  dry  beach ;  and  the  heron  forsakes  the  well- 
known  fens,  and  soars  above  the  lofty  cloud.  Often  too, 
when  wind  threatens,  you  will  see  the  stars  shoot  precipitate 
from  the  sky,  and  behind  them  long  trails  of  flame  whiten 
athwart  the  shades  of  night ;  often  the  light  chaff  and  fallen 
leaves  flutter  about ;  or  feathers  swimming  on  the  surface  of 
the  water  frisk  together. 

But  when  it  lightens  from  the  quarters  of  surly  Boreas,  and 
when  the  house  of  Eurus61  and  Zephyrus  thunders,  all  the 
fields  are  floated  with  full  ditches,  and  every  mariner  on  the 
sea  furls  his  damp  sails.  Showers  never  hurt  any  unfore- 
warned :  either  the  airy  cranes  have  shunned  it  in  the  deep 
valleys  as  it  rose ;  or  the  heifer  looking  up  to  heaven,  hath 
snuffed  in  the  air  with  wide  nostrils ;  or  the  chattering  swallow 
hath  fluttered  about  the  lakes ;  and  the  frogs  croaked  their  old 
complaint  in  the  mud."  And  often  the  ant,  drilling  her  nar- 
row path,  hath  conveyed  her  eggs  from  her  secret  cell ;  and 
the  mighty  bow  hath  drunk  deep  ;  and  an  army  of  ravens,  on 
their  return  from  feeding,  have  beaten  the  air  and  made  a 
noise,  with  wings  close  crowded.  Now  you  may  observe  the 
various  sea-fowls,  and  those  that  rummage  about  the  Asian 

61  Eurus  and  Zephyrus,  the  east  and  west  winds. 
"  Alluding  to  the  metamorphosis  of  the  Lycian  peasants  into  frogf 
for  insulting  Latona,     Ovid,  Met.  vi.  376.     ANTHOX.     B. 


B.  I.  384 — 409.  GEORGICS.  45 

meads,  in  Cayster's63  pleasant  lakes,  keenly  lave  the  copious 
dews  upon  their  shoulders ;  now  offer  their  heads  to  the  work- 
ing tides,  now  run  into  the  streams,  and,  sportive,  revel  vainly 
in  their  desire  of  bathing.  Then  the  impudent  crow  with  full 
throat  invites  the  rain,  and  solitary  stalks  by  herself  on  the 
dry  sand.  Nor  were  even  the  maids,  carding  their  nightly 
tasks,  ignorant  of  the  approaching  storm ;  when  they  saw  the  oil 
sputter  on  the  heated  sherd,  and  foul  fungous  clots  grow  thick." 
Nor  with  less  ease  may  you  foresee,  and  by  certain  signs 
discern,  sunshine  succeeding  rain,  and  open  serene  skies. 
For  neither  are  the  stars  then  seen  with  blunted  edge,  nor  the 
moon  to  rise  as  if  indebted  to  her  brother's  beams ;  nor  thin 
fleecy"  clouds  to  be  borne  through  the  sky.  Nor  do  the  hal- 
cyons, beloved  by  Thetis,88  expand  their  wings  upon  the  shore 
to  the  warm  sun :  the  impure  swine  are  not  heedful  to  toss 
about  with  their  snouts  the  loosened  wisps.  But  the  mists 
seek  the  lower  grounds,  and  rest  upon  the  plain ;  and  the  owl, 
observant  of  the  setting  sun  from  the  high  housetop,  practices 
her  evening  songs  in  vain.  Nisus  in  the  clear  sky  appears 
aloft,  and  Scylla  pays  penalty  for  the  purple  lock.  Wher- 
ever she  flying  cuts  the  light  air  with  her  wings,  lo,  hostile, 
implacable  Nisus,5'  with  loud  screams  pursues  her  through  the 
sky:  where  Nisus  mounts  into  the  sky,  she  swiftly  flying  cuts' 
the  light  air  with  her  wings.  Then  the  ravens,  with  com- 

13  Cayster,  a  river  of  Asia  Minor,  which  falls  into  the  ^gean  Sea, 
near  Ephesus. 

M  This  was  a  popular  superstition,  as  we  learn  from  Schol.  Aristoph. 
Vesp.  260.  B. 

66  Cf.  Lucret.  vi.  503,  "  veluti  pendentia  vellera  lanae."    B. 

66  Thetis,  one  of  the  sea-deities,  daughter  of  Nereus  and  Doris  and 
mother  of  Achilles. 

67  Minos  having  laid  siege  to  Megara,  ofwhich  Nisus  was  king,  became 
master  of  the  place  through  the  treachery  of  Scylla,  the  daughter  of  the 
latter.    Nisus  had  a  purple  or  golden  lock  of  hair  growing  on  his  head, 
and,  as  long  as  it  remained  uncut,  so  long  was  his  life  to  last.    Scylla, 
having  seen  Minos,  fell  in  love  with  him,  and  resolved  to  give  him  the 
victory.     She  accordingly  cut  off  her  father's  precious  lock  as  he  slept, 
and  he  immediately  died.    The  town  was  then  taken  by  the  Cretans ;  but 
Minos,  instead  of  rewarding  the  maiden,  disgusted  with  her  unnatural 
treachery,  tied  her  by  her  feet  to  the  stern  of  his  vessel,  and  thus  dragged 
her  along  till  she  was  drowned.     Nisus  was  changed  after  death  into  the 
bird  called  the  sea-eagle,  (d/>.taerof,)  and  Scylla  into  that  named  ciris 
(icelpif)-   and  the   father  continually  pursues   the   daughter,  says  the 
legend,  to  punish  her  for  her  crime.     ANTHON. 


46  GEORGICS.  B.  I.  410 — 444. 

pressed  throat,  three  or  four  times  repeat  their  clear  notes ; 
and  often  in  their  nests  aloft,  affected  with  I  know  not  what 
unusual  charm,  they  rustle  togethef  among  the  leaves :  the 
rains  now  passed,  they  are  glad  to  revisit  their  little  offspring 
and  beloved  nests :  not,  indeed,  I  am  persuaded,  as  if  they  had 
a  spirit  of  discernment  from  the  gods,  or  superior  knowledge 
of  things  by  fate ;  but  when  the  storm  and  fluctuating  vapors 
of  the  air  have  changed  their  course,  and  showery  Jove  by 
his  south  winds  condenses  those  things  which  just  before  were 
rare,  and  rarefies  what  things  were  dense  ;  the  images  of  their 
minds  are  altered,  and  their  breasts  now  receive  different  im- 
pressions (different,  while  the  wind  rolled  the  clouds).  Hence 
that  concert  of  birds  in  the  fields,  and  the  cattle  frisking  for 
joy,  and  the  ravens  exulting  in  their  caws. 

But  if  you  give  attention  to  the  rapid  sun,  and  the  moons 
in  order  following;  the  hour  of  ensuing  morn  shall  never 
cheat  you,  nor  shall  you  be  deceived  by  the  treacherous  aspect 
of  a  serene  night.  When  first  the  moon  collects  the  returning 
rays,  if  with  horns  obscure  she  incloses  dusky  air,  a  vast  rain 
is  preparing  for  swains  and  mariners.  But,  if  she  should 
spread  a  virgin  blush  over  her  face,  wind  will  ensue :  golden 
Phoebe68  always  reddens  with  wind.  But  if  at  her  fourth 
•rising  (for  that  is  the  most  unerring  monitor)  she  passes  along 
the  sky  pure  and  bright,  nor  with  blunted  horns ;  both  that 
whole  day,  and  all  those  that  shall  come  after  it,  till  the  month 
be  finished,  will  be  free  from  rains  and  winds  :  and  the  mariners 
preserved,  will  pay  their  vows  upon  the  shore  to  Glaueus,6' 
Panopea,  and  Melicerta,  Ino's  son. 

The  sun  too,  both  rising  and  when  he  sets  in  the  waves, 
will  give  signs.  The  surest  signs  attend  the  sun,  both  those 
which  he  brings  in  the  morning,  and  those  when  the  stars 
arise.  When  he  shall  checker  his  new-born  face  with  spots, 
hidden  in  a  cloud,  and  has  fled  from  view  with  half  his  orb, 
you  may  then  suspect  showers  :  for  the  south  wind,  pernicious 
to  trees  and  corn  and  flocks,  hastens  from  the  sea.  Or  when 

68  Phoebe,  a  name  of  Diana,  or  Luna  (the  moon) ;  as  Phoebus  is  a 
name  of  Apollo,  or  Sol  (the  sun). 

**  Glaueus,  a  fisherman  of  Anthedon,  in  Bosotia,  son  of  Neptune  and 
Nais,  changed  into  a  sea-deity.  Panopea,  a  sea-nymph,  one  of  the  Ne- 
reids. Melicerta,  the  son  of  Athanas  and  Ino,  changed  into  a  sea-god, 
known  also  by  the  names  of  Palembn  and  Portumnus. 


B.  I.  445—470.  GBOEGICS.  47 

at  the  dawn  the  rays  shall  break  themselves  diversely  among 
the  thick  clouds  ;  or  when  Aurora,  leaving  the  saffron-bed  of 
Tithonus60  rises  pale  ;  ah,  the  vine-leaf  will  then  but  ill  de- 
fend the  mellow  grapes  ;  so  thick  the  horrid  hail  bounds  rat- 
tling on  the  roofs.  This  too  it  will  be  more  advantageous  to 
remember,  when,  having  measured  the  heavens,  he  is  just 
setting  ;  for  often  we  see  various  colors  wander  over  his  face. 
The  azure  threatens  rain  ;  the  fiery  wind.  But  if  the  spots 
begin  to  be  blended  with  bright  fire,  then  you  will  see  all 
things  embroiled  together  with  wind  and  storms  of  rain.  Let 
none  advise  me  that  night  to  launch  into  the  deep,  or  to  tear 
my  cable  from  the  land.  But,  if,  both  when  he  ushers  in,  and 
when  he  shuts  up  the  revolving  day,  his  orb  is  lucid  ;  in  vain 
will  you  be  alarmed  by  the  clouds,  aud  you  will  see  woods 
waved  by  the  clear  north  wind. 

In  fine,  the  sun  will  give  thee  signs  what  [weather]  late 
Vesper  brings,  from  what  quarter  the  wind  will  roll  the 
clouds  serene,  what  wet  Auster61  meditates.  Who  dares  to 
call  the  sun  deceiver  ?  He  even  forewarns  often  that  hidden 
tumults  are  at  hand,  and  that  treachery  and  secret  wars  are 
swelling  to  a  head.  He  also  pitied  Rome  at  Caesar's  death, 
when  he  covered  his  bright  head  with  murky  iron  hue,62  and 
the  impions  age  feared  eternal  night  ;  though  at  that  time  the 
earth  too,  and  ocean's  plains,  ill-omened  dogs,  and  presaging 
birds,  gave  ominous  signs.  How  often  have  we  seen 


90  Tithonus,  a  son  of  Laomedon,  king  of  Troy,  was  so  beautiful  that 
Aurora  became  enamored  of  him,  and  carried  him  away  to  Ethiopia. 

61  Auster,  the  south  wind. 

M  "  When  he  shrouded  his  bright  head  with  a  dark  ferruginous  hue." 
According  to  Plutarch  (Vit.  Cass.  c.  90),  Pliny  (H.  N.  ii.  30),  and  Dio 
Caasius  (xlv.  17),  the  sun  appeared  of  a  dim  and  pallid  hue  after  the 
assassination  of  Julius  Caesar,  and  continued  so  during  the  whole  of  the 
year.  It  is  said,  too,  that,  for  want  of  the  natural  heat  of  that  luminary, 
the  fruits  rotted  without  coming  to  maturity.  "What  Plutarch  calls  pale- 
ness, Virgil,  it  will  be  perceived,  denominates  by  a  stronger  term,  ferrugo. 
This,  of  course,  is  the  license  of  poetry.  The  phenomenon  mentioned  by 
the  ancient  writers  is  thought  by  some  modern  inquirers  to  have  been  oc- 
casioned by  spots  on  the  sun  ;  and  this  is  the  more  probable  opinion. 
There  appears,  however,  to  have  been  an  actual  eclipse  of  the  sun  that 
same  year,  in  the  month  of  November.  ANTHON. 

63  ^Etna  (Gibello),  a  celebrated  volcanic  mountain  of  Sicily.  This 
immense  mountain  is  of  a  conical  form  ;  it  is  two  miles  in  perpendicular 
height,  100  miles  round  the  base,  with  an  ascent,  in  some  places,  of  SC 
miles,  and  its  crater  is  a  circle  of  about  3  1-2  miles  in  circumference. 


48  GEORGICS.  B.  i.  471 — 498. 

from  its  burst  furnaces  boil  over  in  waves  on  the  lands  of  the 
Cyclops,'*  and  shoot  up  globes  of  flame,  and  molten  rocks! 
Germany  heard  a  clashing  of  arms  over  all  the  sky ;  the  Alps 
trembled  with  unwonted  earthquakes.  A  mighty  voice  too 
was  commonly  heard  through  the  silent  groves,  and  specters 
strangely  pale  were  seen  under  cloud  of  night ;  and  the  very 
cattle  (O  horrid  !)  spoke ;  rivers  stopped  their  courses,  the 
earth  yawned  wide ;  the  mourning  ivory  weeps  in  the  tem- 
ples, and  the  brazen  statues  sweat.  Eridanus,*4  king  of  rivers, 
overflowed,  whirling  in  mad  eddy  whole  woods  along,  and 
bore  away  the  herds  with  their  stalls  over  all  the  plains. 
Nor  at  the  same  time  did  either  the  fibers  fail  to  appear 
threatening  in  the  baleful  entrails,  or  blood  to  flow  from  the 
wells,  and  cities  to  resound  aloud  with  wolves  howling  by 
night.  Never  did  more  lightnings  fall  from  a  serene  sky,  or 
direful  comets  so  often  blaze.  For  this  Philippi88  twice  saw 
the  Roman  armies  in  intestine  war67  engage  ;  nor  seemed  it 
unbecoming  to  the  gods,  that  Emathia88  and  the  extensive 
plains  of  Hsemus  should  twice  be  fattened  with  our  blood. 
Ay,  and  the  time  will  come,  when  in  those  regions  the  hus- 
bandman, laboring  the  ground  with  the  crooked  plow,  shall 
find  javelins  all  eaten  with  corrosive  rust,  or  with  his  cumbrous 
harrows  shall  clash  on  empty  helmets,  and  marvel  at  the  huge 
bones  in  dug-up  graves. 

Ye  guardian  deities  of  my  country,  ye  Indigetes69  and  thou 

04  Cyclops,  a  gigantic  race  of  men,  sons  of  Ccelus  and  Terra:  they 
were  Vulcan's  workmen  in  fabricating  the  thunderbolts  of  Jupiter,  and 
were  represented  having  only  one  eye  in  the  middle  of  their  forehead. 

'*  Eridanus,  called  afterward  Padus  (the  Po),  the  largest  river  of 
Italy,  rises  in  the  Alps,  after  a  course  of  nearly  400  miles,  falls  into  the 
Adriatic,  to  the  south  of  the  city  of  Venice. 

"  Philippi,  a  city  of  Macedonia,  on  the  confines  of  Thrace,  famous 
for  the  defeat  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  by  Antony  and  Augustus,  B.  c.  42. 
By  the  other  battle  at  Philippi,  mentioned  here,  Virgil  is  supposed  to 
allude  to  that  between  Caesar  and  Pompey  on  the  plains  of  Pharsalia, 
in  Thessaly,  which  was  fought  near  a  town  also  called  Philippi,  B.  c. 
48. 

67  The  force  of  "paribua  telis"  is  well  expressed  by  Lucan.  i.  7, 
"pares  aquilas,  et  pila  minantia  pilis,"  as  remarked  by  Servius.  B. 

88  Emathia,  an  ancient  name  of  Macedonia  and  Thessaly.  Hsemus, 
an  extensive  chain  of  mountains  through  Thrace,  etc.,  in  length  about 
four  hundred  miles. 

69  Indigetes,  a  name  given  to  those  deities  who  were  worshiped  in 
particular  places,  or  to  such  heroes  as  were  deified. 


B.  1. 498—514.  GEORGICS.  49 

O  Romulus,70  and  mother  Vesta,71  who  guardest  the  Tuscan 
Tiber,7*  and  the  palaces  of  Rome';  forbid  not  that  this  youth- 
ful hero  at  least  repair  the  ruins  of  the  age.  Long  since 
enough  have  we  with  our  blood  atoned  for  the  perjuries  of 
Laomedon's  Troy.73  Long  since,  O  Caesar,  the  courts  of  heaven 
envy  us  thee,  and  complain  that  thou  art  concerned  about  the 
triumphs  of  mortals'  since  among  them  the  distinctions  of 
right  and  wrong  are  perverted ;  so  many  wars,  so  many  aspects 
of  crimes,  are  throughout  the  world ;  the  plow  has  none  of  its 
due  honors;  the  fields  lie  waste^  their  owners  being  drawn 
for  service ;  and  the  crooked  scythes  are  forged  into  rigid 
swords.  Here  Euphrates,74  there  Germany,  raises  war ;  neigh- 
boring cities,  having  broken  their  mutual  leagues,  take  arms ; 
impious  Mars75  rages  through  all  the  world.  As  when  the 
four-horsed  chariots  have  burst  forth  from  the  goal,  they  add 
speed  to  speed,  and  the  charioteer,  stretching  in  vain  the  bridle, 
is  hurried  away  by  the  steeds,  nor  is  the  chariot  heedful  of  the 


70  Romulus,  a  son  of  Mars  and  Rhea,  grandson  of  Numitor,  king  of  Alba, 
and  twin-brother  of  Remus.    He  was  the  founder  and  first  king  of  Rome, 
which  he  built  on  Mount  Palatine,  B.  c.  753.     By  the  triumphs  of  their 
arms,  and  the  terror  of  their  name,  the  Romans  gradually  rose,  during  a 
succession  of  ages,  to  universal  empire,  and  Rome  became,  for  a  time, 
mistress  of  the  world.     After  his  death,  Romulus  was  ranked  among  the 
gods,  and  received  divine  honors  under  the  name  of  Quirinus. 

71  Vesta,  daughter  of  Rhea  and  Saturn,  called  the  mother  of  the  gods, 
was  the  goddess  of  fire,  and  the  patroness  of  the  vestal  virgins,  among 
the  Romans. 

73  Tiber,  a  celebrated  river  of  Italy,  rises  in  the  Apennines,  and  falls 
into  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  sixteen  miles  below  the  city  of  Rome. 

73  Laomedon,  King  of  Troy,  and  the  father  of  Priam.  He  built  the 
walls  of  Troy,  with  the  assistance  of  Apollo  and  Neptune ;  but,  on  the 
work  being  finished,  he  refused  to  reward  them  for  their  labors,  and,  in 
consequence,  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  gods. 

71  Euphrates,  a  celebrated  river  of  Asia,  which  rises'  in  the  mountains 
of  Armenia,  and  discharges  itself  into  the  Persian  Gulf. 

75  Mars,  the  god  of  war.  Among  the  Romans,  this  deity  received 
the  most  unbounded  honors. 

3 


50  GEORGICS.  B.  n.  1—26. 


BOOK  H. 

Virgil,  having,  in  the  First  Book,  treated  of  tillage,  proceeds  in  the  Second 
to  the  subject  of  planting  ;  describes  the  varieties  of  trees,  with  the  best 
methods  of  raising  them :  gives  rules  for  the  management  of  the  vine  and 
olive,  and  for  judging  of  the  nature  of  soils  ;  and,  in  a  strain  of  exalted 
poetry,  celebrates  the  praises  of  Italy,  and  the  pleasures  of  a  country  life. 

THUS  far  of  the  culture  of  fields,  and  of  the  constellations  of 
the  heavens ;  now,  Bacchus,  will  I  sing  of  thee,  and  with  thee 
of  woodland  trees,  and  of  the  slow-growing  olive's  offspring. 
Hither,  O  father1  Lenjeus"  (here  is  all  full  of  thy  bounties: 
for  thee  the  field,  laden  with  the  viny  harvest,  flouiishes ;  [for 
thee]  the  vintage  foams  in  the  full  vats) :  hither,  O  father 
Lenaeus,  come ;  and,  having  thy  buskins  stripped  oif,  stain  thy 
legs,  bared  of  the  sandals,  with  me  in  new  wine. 

first,  nature  is  various  in  producing  trees :  for  some,  with- 
out any  cogent  means  applied  by  men,  come  freely  of  their 
own  accord,  and  widely  overspread  the  plains  and  winding 
rivers;  as  the  soft  osier  and  limber  broom,  and  poplar  and 
the  whitening  willows,  with  sea-green  leaves.  But  some  arise 
from  deposited  seed ;  as  the  lofty  chestnuts,  and  the  jesculus, 
which,  in  honor  of  Jove,  shoots  forth  its  leaves,  the  most 
majestic  of  the  groves,  and  the  oaks  reputed  oracular  by  the 
Greeks.  To  others  a  most  luxuriant  wood  [of  suckers]  springs 
from  the  roots ;  as  the  cherries  and  the  elms :  thus,  too,  the 
little  bay  of  Parnassus  raises  itself  under  its  mother's  mighty 
shade.  Nature  at  first  ordained  these  means  [for  the  produc- 
tion of  trees] :  by  these  every  species  blooms,  of  woods,  and 
shrubs,  and  sacred  groves.  Others  there  are,  which  experi- 
ence has  found  out  for  itself  on  the  way.3  One,  cutting  off 
the  tender  suckers  from  the  body  of  their  mother,  sets  them 
in  the  furrows ;  another  buries  the  stocks  in  the  ground,  and 
stakes  split  in  four,  and  poles  with  the  wood  sharpened  to  a 
point ;  and  some  trees  expect  the  bent-down  arches  of  a  layer, 

1  The  term  "  pater"  is  here  applied  to  Bacchus,  not  with  any  reference 
to  advanced  years,  for  the, god  is  always  represented  by  the  ancient  art- 
ists with  the  attributes  of  youth  (compare  Miiller,  Archaeolog.  der  Kunst, 
p.  566),  but  merely  as  indicative  of  his  being  the  beneficent  author  of 
so  many  good  gifts  unto  men.  ANTUON. 

3  Lenaeus,  a  surname  of  Bacchus,  the  god  of  wine,  from  Aqvof,  a 
winepress. 

8  "  Yia"  here  denotes  the  "  march  of  intellect."     B. 


B.  n.  27—61.  GEORGICS.  51 

and  living  nurseries  in  their  native  soil.  Others  have  no  need 
of  any  root ;  and  the  planter  makes  no  scruple  to  commit  to 
earth  the  topmost  shoots,  restoring  them  [to  their  parent  soil]. 
Even  (what  is  wondrous  to  relate)  after  the  trunk  is  cut  in 
pieces,  the  olive-tree  shoots  forth  roots  from  the  dry  wood. 
Often  we  see  the  boughs  of  one  tree  transformed,  with  no 
disadvantage,  into  those  of  another,  and  a  pear-tree,  being 
changed,  bear  ingrafted  apples,  and  stony  cornels  grow  upon 
plum  stocks.4 

Wherefore  come  on,  O  husbandmen,  learn  the  culture  proper 
to  each  kind,  and  soften  the  wild  fruits  by  cultivation :  nor  let 
any  lands  lie  idle  :  it  is  worth  while  to  plant  Ismarus  with  vines, 
and  clothe  vast  Taburnus5  with  olives. 

And  thou,  O  glory  mine,  O  thou  deservedly  the  greatest  por- 
tion of  my  fame,  be  present,  Maecenas,  pursue  with  me  this  task 
begun,  and  flying  set  sail  on  this  sea,  now  opening  wide.  I 
choose  not  to  comprise  all  matters  in  my  verse,  even  if  I  had  a 
hundred  tongues,  a  hundred  mouths,  and  an  iron  voice ;  be 
present,  and  coast  along  the  nearest  shore.  The  earth  is  near 
at  hand  ;  I  will  not  here  detain  thee  with  fictitious  song,  or 
with  circumlocution  and  tedious  preamble. 

Those  which  spring  up  spontaneously  into  the  regions  of 
light  are  unfruitful  indeed ;  but  they  rise  luxuriant  and  strong : 
for  in  the  soil  lies  a  native  quality.  Yet,  if  any  one  ingraft 
even  these,  or  deposit  them  transplanted  in  trenches  well  pre- 
pared, they  will  put  off  their  savage  nature,  and  by  frequent 
culture  will  not  be  slow  to  follow  whatever  modes  of  culture 
you  call  them  to.  And  [the  sucker]  also  which  sprouts  up 
barren  from  the  low  roots,  will  do  the  same,8  if  it  be  distrib- 
uted through  fields  where  room :  now  [in  its  natural  state] 
the  high  shoots  and  branches  of  the  mother  overshadow,  and 
hinder  it  from  bearing  fruit  as  it  grows  up,  or  pinch  and 
starve  it  when  it  bears.  The  tree,  again,  that  is  raised  from 
fallen  seed,  grows  up  slowly,  so  as  to  form  a  shade  for  late 
posterity,  and  its  fruits  degenerate,  forgetting  their  former 
juices :  thus  even  the  vine  bears  sorry  clusters,  a  prey  for 
birds.  In  fact,  labor  must  be  bestowed  on  all,  and  all  must 

4  So  Martyn.     But  see  Anthon.     B. 

6  Taburnus,  a  mountain  of  Campania,  in  Italy,  which,  abounded  with 
olives. 

8  i.  e.  will  lay  aside  its  wild  and  unproductive  nature.    ANTHON. 


52  GEOBGICS.  B.  IL  62—90. 

be  forced  into  the  trench,  and  tamed  with  vast  pains.  But 
olives  answer  better  [when  propagated]  by  truncheons,  vines 
by  layers,  the  myrtles  of  the  Paphian  [goddess7  by  settings] 
from  the  solid  wood.  From  suckers  the  hard  hazels  grow, 
the  mighty  ash,  and  the  shady  poplar-tree,  a  crown  for  Her- 
cules, and  the  oaks  of  the  Chaonian  Sire :  thus  also  the  lofty 
palm  is  propagated,  and  the  fir-tree  doomed  to  visit  the  dangers 
of  the  main. 

But  the  rugged  arbute  is  ingrafted  on  the  offspring  of  the 
walnut,  and  barren  planes  have  borne  stout  apple-trees. 
Chestnut-trees  [have  borne]  beeches,  and  the  mountain  ash 
hath  whitened  with8  the  snowy  blossoms  of  the  pear :  and 
swine  have  crunched  acorns  under  elms.  Nor  is  the  method 
of  ingrafting  the  same  with  that  of  inoculating.  For  [inocu- 
lating is  thus]  :  where  the  buds  thrust  themselves  forth  from 
the  middle  of  the  bark,  and  burst  the  slender  coats,  a  small 
slit  is  made  in  the  very  knot :  hither  they  inclose  a  bud  from 
another  tree,  and  teach  it  to  unite  with  the  moist  rind.  Or 
again  [in  ingrafting]  the  knotless  stocks  are  cut,  and  a  pas- 
sage is  cloven  deep,  into  the  solid  wood  with  wedges :  then 
fertile  scions  are  inserted;  and  in  no  long  time  a  huge  tree 
shoots  up  to  heaven  with  prosperous  boughs,  and  admires  its 
new  leaves  and  fruits  not  its  own. 

Moreover,  the  species  is  not  single,  either  of  strong  elms, 
or  of  willows,  of  the  lote-tree,  or  of  the  Idsean  cypresses  ;fl 
nor  do  the  fat  olives  grow  in  one  form,  the  orchades,  and  the 
radii,  and  the  pausia  with  bitter  berries ;  nor  apples,  and  the 
orchards  of  Alcinous ;  nor  are  the  shoots  the  same  of  the 
Crustumian  and  Syrian  pears,  and  of  the  heavy  volemi.  The 
same  vintage  hangs  not  on  our  trees,  which  Lesbos10  gathers 

7  Paphian  goddess.     Venus  was  so  called,  from  Paphos  (Bafia),  a  city 
of  Cyprus,  where  she  was  worshiped. 

8  "  Incanuit"  is  an  instance  of  zeugma,  for  the  chestnut  hears  no 
white  flower.    B. 

9  Idsean  cypresses,  from  Mount  Ida,  in  the  island  of  Crete.     Orchards 
of  Alcinous,  king  of  Pha3acia,  afterward  called  Corcyra  (Corfu),  one  of 
the  Ionian  islands ;  his  gardens,  which  were  greatly  famed,  are  beauti- 
fully described  by  Homer.     Crustumian  and  Syrian  pears ;  the  first  were 
so  called  from  Crustuminum,  a  town  of  Etruria,  in  Italy ;  and  the  latter 
from  Syria,  a  country  of  Asia,  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean.    Phoenicia  and  Palestine  were  generally  reckoned  provinces  of 
Syria. 

10  Lesbos  (Mytilene),  a  largo  island  in  the  Archipelago,  celebrated, 


B.  n.  91—116.  GEORGICS.  53 

from  the  Methymnsean  vine.  There  are  the  Thasian  vines, 
and  there  are  the  white  Mareotides ;  these  fit  for  a  rich  soil, 
and  those  for  a  lighter  one  :  and  the  Psythian,  more  service- 
able when  dried,  and  the  thin  lageos,  which  will  tie  the  feet 
at  length,  and  bind  the  tongue  :  the  purple  and  the  rath-ripe : 
And  in  what  numbers  shall  I  sing  of  thee,  O  Rhaetian  grape  ? 
nor  therefore  vie  thou  with  the  Falernian11  cellars.  There  are 
also  Amminean  vines,  best-bodied  wines ;  which  even  Tmolus 
and  Phanae,  king  of  mountains,  honor ;  and  the  smaller  Ar- 
gitis,  which  none  can  rival,  either  in  yielding  so  much  juice, 
or  in  lasting  so  many  years.  I  must  not  pass  thee  over,  Rhodian 
grape,  grateful  to  the  gods  and  second  courses,  nor  thee, 
bumastos,  with  thy  swollen  clusters.  But  we  neither  can  re- 
count how  numerous  the  species,  nor  what  are  their  names,  nor 
imports  it  to  comprise  their  number ;  which  whoever  would 
know,  the  same  may  seek  to  learn  how  numerous  are  the  sands 
of  the  Libyan  Sea  tossed  by  the  zephyr ;  or  to  know  how  many 
waves  of  the  Ionian  Sea14  come  to  the  shores,  when  Eurus, 
more  violent,  falls  upon  the  ships. 

But  neither  can  all  soils  bear  all  sorts  [of  trees].     Willows 

'  grow  along  the  rivers,  and  elders  in  miiy  fens  ;  the  barren  wild 

ashes  on  rocky  mountains  ;  the  shores  rejoice  most  in  myrtle 

groves  :  Bacchus,  in  fine,  loves  open  hills  ;  the  yews,  the  north 

wind  and  the  cold. 

Survey,  also,  the  globe  subdued  by  the  most  distant  culti- 
vators, both  the  eastern  habitations  of  the  Arabians,13  and  the 
tattooed  Geloni.  Countries  are  distinguished  by  their  trees. 

particularly  the  city  of  Methymna,  for  its  excellent  wines.  Thasian 
vines,  those  of  Thasos,  also  an  island  hi  the  Archipelago,  near  the  coast 
of  Thrace.  Mareotides,  a  vine  from  Mareotis,  a  lake  hi  Egypt,  near 
Alexandria.  Psythian,  from  Psythia,  an  ancient  town  of  Greece,  famous 
for  its  grapes.  Rluetian  grape,  from  Rhsetia  (the  Tyrol,  etc.),  a  moun- 
tainous country  to  the  north  of  Italy. 

u  Falernian,  etc.  Falernus,  a  fertile  mountain  and  plain  of  Campania, 
in  Italy.  Amminia,  a  district  of  Campania.  Phanae,  a  promontory  of 
the  island  of  Chios  (Scio).  Rhodian  grape,  from  Rhodes,  a  large  and 
fertile  island  in  the  Mediterranean,  near  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  cele- 
brated for  a  colossal  statue  of  Apollo. 

IJ  Ionian  Sea,  a  part  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Adriatic,  and  between  Sicily  and  Greece. 

"  Arabians,  etc.,  the  inhabitants  of  Arabia,  an  extensive  country  of 
Asia,  forming  a  peninsula  between  the  Persian  and  Arabian  Gulfs;  tb» 
latter  separates  it  from  Africa.  Geloni,  a  people  of  Scythia. 


54  GEORGICS.  B.  n.  117—146. 

India  alone  bears  black  ebony :  the  frankincense-tree  belongs 
to  the  Sabseans  only.  -Why  should  I  mention  to  thee  balms 
distilling  from  the  fragrant  woods,  and  the  berries  of  the  ever- 
green acanthus  ?  why  the  forests  of  the  Ethiopians  whitening 
with  downy  wool?  and  how  the  Seres14  comb  the  slender 
fleeces  from  the  leaves  1  or  the  groves  which  India,  nearer  the 
ocean,  the  utmost  skirts  of  the  globe,  produces?  where  no 
arrows  by  their  flight  have  been  able  to  surmount  the  airy 
summit  of  the  tree  :  and  yet  that  nation  is  not  slow  at  archery. 
Media  bears  the  bitter  juices  and  the  permanent  flavor  of  the 
happy  apple  ;  than  which  no  remedy  comes  more  seasonably, 
and  expels  the  black  venom  from  the  limbs,  when  cruel  step- 
dames  have  drugged  the  cup,  and  mingled  herbs  and  not  in- 
noxious spells.  The  tree  itself  is  stately,  and  in  form  most 
like  a  bay ;  and  if  it  did  not  widely  diffuse  a  different  scent, 
would  be  a  bay.  Its  leaves  fall  not  off  by  any  winds ;  its 
blossoms  are  extremely  tenacious.  With  it  the  Medes  correct 
their  breaths  and  unsavory  mouths,  and  cure  their  asthmatic 
old  men. 

But  neither  the  land  of  Media,  most  rich  in  woods,  nor  the 
beauteous  Ganges,16  and  Hermus  turbid  with  golden  sands, 
can  match  the  praises  of  Italy :  not  Bactra,18  nor  the  Indians, 
and  Panchaia,  all  enriched  with  incense-bearing  soil.  Bulls 
breathing  fire  from  their  nostrils  never  plowed  these  regions, 
sown  with  the  teeth  of  a  hideous  dragon ;  nor  did  a  crop  of 
men  shoot  dreadful  up  with  helmets  and  crowded  spears ;  but 
teeming  corn  and  Bacchus'  Campanian  juice  have  filled  [the 
land],  olives  and  joyous  herbs  possess  it.  Hence  the  warrior- 
horse  with  stately  port  advances  into  the  field ;  hence,  CH- 
tumnus,1'  thy  white  flocks,  and  the  bull,  chief  of  victims,  after 

14  Seres,  a  nation  of  Asia,  between  the  Ganges  and  Eastern  Ocean ; 
the  modern  Tibet,  or  probably  China.     Media,  a  celebrated  country  of 
Asia,  to  the  south  of  the  Caspian  Sea. 

15  Ganges,  a  celebrated  river  of  India,  which  arises  in  the  Himalaya 
mountains,  and  after  a  course  of  1500  miles,  falls  into  the  bay  of  Bengal, 
below  Calcutta.     Hermus  (Sarabat),  a  river  of  Lydia,  in  Asia  Minor, 
whose  sands  were  mingled  with  gold ;  it  receives  the  waters  of  the  Pac- 
tolus  near  Sardis,  and  falls  into  the  ^Egean,  north-west  of  Smyrna. 

18  Bactra  (Balkh),  the  capital  of  Bactriana,  a  country  of  Asia.  Pan- 
chaia, a  district  of  Arabia  Felix. 

17  Clitumnus.  a  river  of  TJmbria,  in  Italy,  which  falls  into  the  Tiber. 
It  was  famous  for  its  milk-white  flocks,  selected  as  victims  in  the  cele- 
bration of  the  triumph. 


B.  H.  141—169.  GEORGICS.  55 

they  have  been  often  plunged  in  thy  sacred  stream,  escort  the 
Roman  triumphs  to  the  temples  of  the  gods.  Here  is  per- 
petual spring,  and  summer  in  months  not  her  own  :  twice  a 
year  the  cattle  are  big  with  young,  twice  the  trees  productive 
in  fruit.  But  here  are  no  ravening  tigers,  nor  the  savage 
breed  of  lions ;  nor  wolfsbane  deceives  the  wretched  gather- 
ers ;  nor  along  the  ground  the  scaly  serpent  sweeps  his  im- 
mense orbs,  nor  with  so  vast  a  train  gathers  up  himself  into 
coils.  And  so  many  magnificent  cities,  and  works  of  elaborate 
art ;  so  many  towns  upreared  with  the  hand  on  craggy  rocks  ; 
and  rivers  gliding  beneath  ancient  walls.  Or  need  I  mention 
the  sea  which  washes  it  above,  and  that  below  ?  or  its  lakes 
so  vast  ?  thee,  Larius,18  of  largest  extent  ?  and  thee,  Benacus, 
swelling  with  the  waves  and  roaring  of  the  sea  ?  Or  shall  I 
mention  its  ports,  and  the  moles  raised  to  dam  the  Lucrine,1' 
and  the  sea  raging  indignant  with  loud  murmurs,  where  the 
Julian  wave  far  resounds,  the  sea  pouring  in,  and  the  Tuscan 
tide  is  let  into  the  straits  of  Avernus  1  The  same  land  hath 
in  its  veins  disclosed  rivers  of  silver  and  mines  of  copper,  and 
copious  flowed  with  gold.  The  same  hath  produced  a  warlike 
race  of  men,  the  Marsi20  and  the  Sabellian  youth,  and  the 
Li^urian  inured  to  hardship,  and  the  Volscians  armed  with 
sharp  darts ;  this  same  the  Decii,21  the  Marii,  and  the  great 

18  Larius  (Como),  a  beautiful  lake  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  through  which 
the  Adua  runs  in  its  course  to  the  Po,  above  Cremona.  Benacus  (L.  di 
Garda),  a  large  lake,  from  which  the  Mincius  issues,  and  flows  into 
the  Po. 

13  Lucrine  Lake,  near  Cumae  on  the  coast  of  Campania.  During  an 
earthquake,  A.  D.  1538,  this  lake  disappeared,  and  hi  its  place  was  formed 
a  mountain,  two  miles  in  circumference,  and  one  thousand  feet  high,  with 
a  crater  hi  the  middle.  Avernus,  a  lake  of  Campania,  whose  waters 
were  so  putrid,  that  the  ancients  regarded  it  as  the  entrance  of  the  in- 
fernal regions.  Augustus  united  the  Lucrine  and  Avernian  lakes  by 
the  famous  Julian  harbor,  and  formed  a  communication-  between  the  lat- 
ter lake  and  the  sea. 

30  Marsi  were  a  people  of  Germany,  who  emigrated  to  Italy,  and  set- 
tled near  the  lake  Fucinus.  The  Sabellians  were  descended  from  the 
Sabines,  or  from  the  Samnites ; — the  Ligurians  inhabited  Piedmont ; — 
the  Volscians  were  a  warlike  people  of  Latium  (Campagna  di  Roma). 

21  Decii,  a  noble  family  of  Rome,  who  devoted  themselves  to  death 
for  the  safety  of  their  country.  Marii,  the  Marian  family,  the  chief  of 
whom  was  Caius  Marius,  who,  from  a  peasant,  became  one  of  the  most 
powerful  and  cruel  tyrants  that  Rome  ever  beheld  during  her  consular 
government 


56  GEORGICS.  B.  n.  170—198. 

Camilli,"3  the  Scipios*3  invincible  in  war,  and  thee,  most  mighty 
Caesar ;  who,  at  this  'very  time  victorious  in  Asia's  remotest 
limits,  art  turning  away  from  the  Roman  towers  the  humbled 
Indian.  Hail,  Saturnian'4  land,  great  parent  of  fruits,  great 
parent  of  heroes  ;  for  thee  I  enter,  on  a  subject,  of  ancient  re- 
nown and  ail,  venturing  to  disclose  the  sacred  springs ;  and  I 
sing  an  Ascreean  strain  through  Roman  cities. 

Now  it  is  time  to  describe  the  qualities  of  soils ;  what  is  the 
strength  of  age,  what  color,  and  what  its  nature  is  most  apt  to 
produce.  First,  stubborn  lands,  and  unfruitful  hills,  where  lean 
clay  [abounds],  and  pebbles  in  the  bushy  fields,  rejoice  in 
Pallas'  wood  of  long-lived  olives.  The  wild  olive  rising  copious 
in  the  same  soil  is  an  evidence,  and  the  fields  strewn  with 
woodland  berries.  But,  to  the  ground  that  is  fat,  and  glad- 
dened with  sweet  moisture,  and  to  the  plain  that  is  luxuriant  in 
grass,  and  of  a  fertile  soil  (such  as  we  are  often  wont  to  look 
down  upon  in  the  hollow  valley  of  a  mountain),  streams  glide 
from  the  high  rocks,  and  draw  a  rich  fattening  slime  along : 
and  that  which  is  raised  to  the  south,  and  nourishes  the  fern 
abhorred  by  the  crooked  plows,  will  in  time  afford  vines  ex- 
ceedingly strong,  and  flcv.-ing  with  abundant  wine  :  this  will 
be  prolific  of  grapes,  this  of  such  liquor  as  we  pour  forth  in 
libation  from  golden  bowls,  when  the  sleek  Tuscan  has  blown 
the  ivory  pipe  at  the  altars,  and  we  offer  up  the  smoking  en- 
trails in  the  bending  chargers. 

But  if  you  are  rather  studious  to  preserve  herds  [of  kine] 
and  calves,  or  the  offspring  of  the  sheep,  or  kids  that  kill  the 
pastures ;  seek  the  lawns  and  distant  fields  of  fruitful  Taren- 
tum,aB  and  plains  like  those  which  hapless  Mantua  hath  lost, 

aa  Camilli,  two  celebrated  Romans,  father  and  son :  the  latter  was 
chosen  five  times  dictator,  expelled  the  Gauls  under  Brennus  from  Rome, 
and,  on  account  of  his  services  to  his  country,  was  called  a  second  Ro- 
mulus. 

83  The  Scipios.     P.  Cornelius    Scipio,  surnamed  Africanus,  the  con- 
queror of  Hannibal,  and  his  grandson,  P.  ^Emilianus  Scipio,  called  Afri- 
canus  the  younger,  on  account  of  his  victories  over  Carthage,  B.  c.  146. 
The  two  Scipios  may  justly  be  ranked  among  the  brightest  ornaments 
of  Roman  greatness. 

84  Saturnian  land.     Italy  was  so  called,  from  Saturn,  who,  on  being 
dethroned  by  Jupiter,  fled  to  Italy,  where  he  reigned  during  the  golden 
age. 

15  Tarentum  (Torento),  a  maritime  city  of  Calabria  in  Italy,  situated 
on  a  noble  bay  of  the  same  name. 


p.  n.  199—229.  GEORGICS.  57 

feeding  snow-white  swans  in  the  grassy  stream.  Neither  limpid 
springs  nor  pastures  will  be  wanting  to  the  flocks  :  and  as  much 
as  the  herds  will  crop  in  the  long  days,  so  much  will  the  cold 
dews  in  the  short  night  restore. 

A  soil  that  is  blackish  and  fat  under  the  deep-pressed  share, 
and  whose  mold  is  loose  and  crumbling  (for  this  we  aim  at 
in  plowing),  is  generally  best  for  corn ;  (from  no  plain  will 
you  see  more  wagons  move  homeward  with  tardy  oxen) ;  or 
that  from  which  the  angry  plowman  has  cleared  away  a 
wood,  and  felled  the  groves  that  have  been  at  a  stand  for 
many  years,  and  with  their  lowest  roots  grubbed  up  the  an- 
cient dwellings  of  the  birds  ;  they  abandoning  their  nests  soar 
on  high,  but  the  field  looks  gay  when  the  plowshare  is  driven 
into  it.  For  the  lean  hungry  gravel  of  a  hilly  field  scarcely 
furnishes  humble  cassia  and  rosemary  for  bees :  and  no  other 
lands,  they  say,  yield  so  sweet  food  to  serpents,  or  afford  them 
such  winding  coverts,  as  the  rough  rotten-stone,  and  chalk 
corroded  by  black  water-snakes.  That  land  which  exhales 
thin  mists  and  flying  smoke,  and  drinks  in  the  moisture,  and 
emits  it  at  pleasure  ;  and  which  always  clothes  itself  with  its 
own  fresh  grass,  nor  hurts  the  plowshare  with  scurf  and 
salt-rust ;  will  entwine  thine  elms  with  joyous  vines  ;  that  also 
is  fertile  of  olives  ;  that  ground  you  will  experience,  in  manur- 
ing, both  to  be  friendly  to  cattle  and  submissive  to  the  crooked 
share.  Such  a  soil  rich  Capua56  tills,  and  the  territory  neigh- 
boring to  Mount  Vesuvius,"  and  the  Clanius  not  kind  to  de- 
populated Acerrae." 

Now  I  will  tell  by  what  means  you  may  distinguish  each. 
If  you  desire  to  know  whether  it  be  loose  or  unusually  stiff 
(because  the  one  is  fit  for  corn,  the  other  for  wine ;  the  stiff 
is  best  for  Ceres,  and  the  most  loose  for  Bacchus)  :  first  you 

99  Capua,  a  famous  city  of  Italy,  the  capital  of  Campania. 

27  Vesuvius,  a  celebrated  volcanic  mountain  of  Campania,  about  six 
miles  south-east  of  Naples,  and  3780  feet  high.  The  first  great  eruption 
of  Vesuvius  on  record  was  accompanied  by  an  earthquake,  A.  D.  79,  when 
the  towns  of  Herculaneum,  Pompeii,  and  Stabise  were  overwhelmed 
under  lava  and  ashes.  The  discovery  of  these  towns  after  having  lain 
above  1600  years  buried  and  unknown,  has  furnished  the  world  with 
many  curious  and  valuable  remains  of  antiquity. 

48  Acerree,  a  town  of  Campania,  near  the  city  of  Naples ;  the  river 
Clanius  almost  surrounded  the  town,  and  by  its  inundations  frequently 
depopulated  it. 

3* 


58  GEORGICS.  B.  n.  230—265. 

shall  mark  out  a  place  with  your  eye,  and  order  a  pit  to  be 
sunk  deep  in  solid  ground,  and  again  return  all  the  mold  into 
its  place,  and  level  with  your  feet  the  sands  at  top.  If  they 
prove  deficient,  the  soil  is  loose,  and  more  fit  for  cattle  and 
bounteous  vines  :  but,  if  they  deny  the  possibility  of  returning 
to  their  places,  and  there  be  an  overplus  of  mold  after  the 
pit  is  filled  up,  it  is  a  dense  soil ;  expect  reluctant  clods,  and 
stiff  ridges,  and  give  the  first  plowing  to  the  land  with  sturdy 
bullocks. 

But  saltish  ground,  and  what  is  accounted  bitter,  where  corn 
can  never  thrive*9  (it  neither  mellows  by  plowing,  nor  preserves 
to  grapes  their  kind,  nor  to  fruits  their  qualities),  will  give  a 
proof  to  this  effect.  Snatch  from  the  smoky  roofs  baskets  of 
close-woven  twigs,  and  the  strainers  of  thy  wine-press.  Hither 
let  some  of  that  vicious  mold,  and  sweet  water  from  the  spring, 
be  pressed  brimfull :  be  sure  all  the  water  will  strain  out,  and 
big  drops  pass  through  the  twigs.  But  the  taste  will  clearly 
make  discovery  ;  and  in  its  bitterness  will  distort  the  wry  faces 
of  the  tasters  with  the  sensation. 

Again,  what  land  is  fat  we  briefly  learn  thus :  When 
squeezed  by  the  hand,  it  never  crumbles,  but,  in  handling,  it 
stacks  to  the  fingers  like  pitch.  The  moist  soil  produces  herbs 
of  a  larger  size,  and  is  itself  luxuriant  beyond  due  measure. 
Ah,  may  none  of  mine  be  [thus]  too  fertile,  nor  show  itself  too 
strong  at  the  first  springing  of  the  grain  ! 

That  which  is  heavy  betrays  itself  by  its  very  weight,  with- 
out my  telling  you  ;  and  likewise  the  light  It  is  easy  to  dis- 
tinguish the  black  at  first  sight,  and  what  is  the  color  of  each. 
But  to  search  out  the  mischievous  cold,  is  difficult :  only  pitch- 
trees,  and  sometimes  noxious  yews,  or  black  ivy,  disclose  its 
signs. 

These  rules  observed,  remember  to  dry  and  bake  the  soil 
long  before,  and  to  encompass  the  spacious  hills  with  trenches, 
expose  the  turned-up  clods  to  the  north  wind,  before  you  plant 
the  vine's  joyous  race.  Fields  of  a  loose  crumbling  soil  are 
best ;  this  effect  the  winds  and  cold  frosts  produce,  and  the 
sturdy  delver,  close  plying  his  acres,  tossed  and  turned  upside 
down. 

But  those  men,  whom  not  any  vigilance  escapes,  first  seek 

19  This  rule  is  however  scarcely  universal,  as  is  shown  by  Van  Goes, 
on  the  Scriptorr.  Rei  Agrim.  p.  137.  B. 


B.  ii.  266—303.  GEOEGICS.  59 

out  the  same  sort  of  soil,  where  the  first  nursery  may  be  pro- 
vided for  their  trees,  and  whither  it  may  soon  be  transplanted 
in  rows  ;  lest  the  slips  take  not  kindly  to  this  mother  suddenly 
changed.  They  even  mark  on  the  bark  the  quarter  of  the  sky, 
that,  in  whatever  manner  each  stood,  in  what  part  it  bore  the 
southern  heats,  what  sides  it  turned  to  the  northern  pole,  they 
may  restore  [it  to  the  same  position].  Of  such  avail  is  cus- 
tom in  tender  years. 

Examine,  first,  whether  it  is  better  to  plant  your  vines  on 
hills  or  on  a  plain.  If  you  lay  out  the  fields  of  a  rich  plain, 
plant  thick ;  Bacchus  will  not  be  less  productive  in  a  densely- 
planted  soil :  but  if  a  soil  rising  with  a  gentle  ascent,  and 
sloping,  hills,  give  room  to  your  ranks  ;  yet  so  that,  your  trees 
being  exactly  ranged,  each  path  between  may  be  exactly  even, 
a  line  being  cut.  As  often  in  dread  war,  when  the  extended 
legion  hath  ranged  its  cohorts,  the  battalions  stand  marshaled 
on  the  open  plain,  the  armies  set  in  array,  and  the  whole 
ground  wide  waves  with  gleaming  brass ;  nor  yet  are  they 
engaged  in  horrid  battle,  but  Mars  hovers  dubious  in  the 
midst  of  arms :  [thus,]  let  all  your  vineyards  be  laid  out  in 
equal  proportions,  not  only  that  the  prospect  may  idly  feed 
the  mind,  but  because  the  earth  will  not  otherwise  supply  equal 
strength  to  all :  nor  will  the  branches  be  able  to  extend  them- 
selves at  large. 

Perhaps,  too,  you  may  ask  what  depth  is  proper  for  the 
trenches.  I  could  venture  to  commit  my  vine  even  to  a  slight 
furrow.  Trees,  again,  are  sunk  deeper  down,  and  far  into  the 
ground  :  especially  the  sesculus,  which  shoots  downward  to 
Tartarus  with  its  roots,  as  far  as  [it  rises]  with  its  top  to  the 
ethereal  regions.  Therefore,  nor  wintery  storms,  nor  blasts  of 
winds,  nor  showers,  can  uproot  it :  it  remains  unmoved,  and, 
rolling  many  ages  of  men  away,  outlasts  them  in  surviving ; 
then  stretching  wide  its  sturdy  boughs  and  arms  this  way  and 
that  way,  itself  in  the  midst  sustains  a  mighty  shade. 

Nor  let  the  vineyards  h'e  toward  the  setting  sun  ;  nor  plant 
the  hazel  among  your  vines  ;  neither  seek  after  the  extremities 
of  the  shoots ;  nor  gather  your  cuttings  from  the  top  of  the 
tree,  so  much  is  their  love  for  the  earth  :  nor  hurt  your  shoots 
with  blunted  steel ;  nor  plant  among  them  truncheons  of  wild 
olive.  For  fire  is  often  let  fall  from  the  unwary  shepherds, 
which  at  first  secretly  lurking  under  the  unctuous  bark, 


60  GEORGICS.  B.  n.  304—340. 

catches  the  solid  wood,  and  shooting  up  into  the  topmost 
leaves,  raises  a  loud  crackling  to  heaven  ;  thence  pursuing  its 
way,  reigns  victorious  among  the  branches  and  the  lofty  tops, 
involves  the  whole  grove  in  flames,  and,  condensed  in  pitchy 
vapor,  darts  the  black  cloud  to  heaven  ;  especially  if  a  storm 
overhead  rests  on  the  woods,  and  the  driving  wind  rolls  round 
the  flames.  When  this  happens,  their  strength  decays  from  the 
root,  nor  can  they  recover,  though  cut,  or  sprout  up  from  the 
deep  earth  such  as  they  were  :  the  unblest  wild  olive  with  its 
bitter  leaves  [alone]  survives. 

Let  no  counselor  be  so  wise  in  your  eyes  as  to  persuade 
you  to  stir  the  rigid  earth  when  Boreas  breathes.  Then  winter 
shuts  up  the  fields  with  frost  ;  and  when  the  slip  is  planted, 
suffers  not  the  frozen  root  to  fasten  to  the  earth.  The  planta- 
tion of  the  vineyard  is  best,  when  in  blushing  spring  the  white 
stork  comes  in,  abhorred  by  the  long  snakes  ;  or  toward  the 
first  colds  of  autumn,  when  the  vehement  sun  does  not  yet 
touch  the  winter  with  his  steeds,  and  the  summer  is  just  gone. 
The  spring,  too,  is  beneficial  to  the  foliage  of  the  groves,  the 
spring  is  beneficial  to  the  woods  :  in  spring  the  lands  swell, 
and  demand  the  genial  seeds.  Then  almighty  father  ./Ether30 
descends  in  fertilizing  showers  into  the  bosom  of  his  joyous 
spouse,  and  great  himself,  mingling  with  her  great  body, 
nourishes  all  her  offspring.  Then  the  retired  brakes  resound 
with  tuneful  birds  ;  and  the  herds  renew  their  loves  on  the 
stated  days.  Then  bounteous  earth  is  teeming  to  the  birth, 
and  the  fields  open  their  bosoms  to  the  warm  breezes  of  the 
Zephyr:  in  all  a  gentle  moisture  abounds  ;  and  the  herds  dare 
safely  trust  themselves  to  the  infant  suns  ;  nor  do  the  vine's 
tender  shoots  fear  the  rising  south  winds,  or  the  shower  pre- 
cipitated from  the  sky  by  the  violent  north  winds  ;  but  put 
forth  their  buds,  and  unfold  all  their  leaves.  No  other  day," 
I  should  think,  had  shone  at  the  first  origin  of  the  rising  world  ; 
it  was  spring,  the  spacious  globe  enjoyed  spring,  and  the  east 
winds  spared  their  wintery  blasts  ;  when  first  the  cattle  drew 
in  the  light,  and  the  earthly  race  of  men  upreared  their  heads 


80  Virgil  here  follows  the  notions  of  Chrysippua,  as  delivered  in 
lus  (Fragm.  Danaid.    fragm.  38,    Dind.),  but  especially  by  Euripides 
(Fragm.  Chrysipp.  No.  vi.  Dind.)     B. 

"  It  was  an  ancient  supposition,  that  the  world  was  created  in  tbo 
spring.     B. 


* 

B.  IL  341—371.  GEORGICS.  61 

from  the  ruggid  glebe,  and  the  woods  were  stocked  with  wild 
beasts,  and  the  heavens  with  stars.  Nor  could  the  tender  pro- 
ductions [of  nature]  bear  this  labor,  if  so  great  rest  did  not  in- 
tervene between  the  cold  and  heat,  and  if  heaven's  indulgent 
season  did  not  visit  the  earth  in  its  turn. 

For  what  remains,  whatever  layers  you  bend  down  over  all 
the  fields,  overspread  them  with  fat  dung,  and  carefully  cover 
them  with  copious  earth ;  or  bury  about  them  spongy  stones, 
or  rough  shells ;  for  thus  the  rains  will  soak  through,  and  a 
subtile  vapor  penetrate  them,  and  the  plants  will  take  cour- 
age. Some,  too,  have  been  found,  who  are  for  pressing  them 
from  above  with  a  stone,  and  the  weight  of  a  great  potsherd  ; 
this  is  a  defense  against  the  pouring  rains :  this  [a  defense] 
when  the  sultry  dog-star  cleaves  the  gaping  fields  with 
drought. 

After  your  layers  are  planted,  it  remains  to  convey  earth 
often  to  the  roots,  and  ply  the  hard  drags  ;  or  to  work  the  soil 
under  the  deep-pressed  share,  and  guide  your  struggling  bul- 
locks through  the  very  vineyards ;  then  to  adapt  [to  the  vines] 
smooth  reeds,  and  spears  of  peeled  rods,  and  ashen  stakes,  and 
two-horned  forks  ;  by  whose  strength  they  may  learn  to  shoot 
up,  to  contemn  the  winds,  and  climb  from  stage  to  stage  along 
the  highest  elms. 

And,  while  their  infant  age  sprouts  with  new-born  leaves, 
you  must  spare  the  tender  vines  ;  and  while  the  joyous  shoot 
raises  itself  on  high,  being  sent  onward  through  the  open  air 
with  loose  reins,"  tie  edge  of  the  pruning-knife  itself  must 
not  be  applied  ;  but  the  leaves  should  be  plucked  with  the  in- 
bent  hands,  and  culled  here  and  there.  Thereafter,  when  they 
have  shot  forth,  embracing  the  elms  with  firm  stems,  then  cut 
their  locks,  then  lop  their  arms.  Before  this  they  dread  the 
steel ;  then,  and  not  till  then,  exercise  severe  dominion,  and 
check  the  loose  straggling  boughs. 

Fences,  too,  should  be  woven,  and  all  the  cattle  be  kept  out ; 
especially  while  the  leaves  are  tender  and  unacquainted  with 

w  A  metaphor  taken  from  horses,  in  imitation  of  Lucretius : 
Arboribus  datum  est  variis  exinde  per  auras 
Crescendi  magnum  immissis  certamen  habenis. 

Per  purum  in  Virgil  signifies  the  same  as  per  auras  in  Lucretius.  Horace 
uses  it  also  for  the  air : 

Per  purum  tonantes 

Egit  equos. 


.a.,, 


., 

.  GEORGICS.  B.  n.  372—399. 

hardships ;  to  which,  besides  the  rigorous  winters  and  vehe- 
ment sun,  the  wild  bulls33  and  persecuting  goats  continually  do 
wanton  harm  ;  the  sheep  and  greedy  heifers  browse  upon  them. 
Nor  do  the  colds,  condensed  in  hoary  frosts,  or  the  severe  heat 
beating  upon  the  scorched  rocks,  hurt  them  so  much  as  the 
flocks,  and  poison  of  their  hard  teeth,  and  a  scar  imprinted  on 
the  gnawed  stem. 

For  no  other  offense  is  the  goat  sacrificed  to  Bacchus  on 
every  altar,  and  the  ancient  plays  come  upon  the  stage  ;34  and 
the  Athenians  proposed  for  wits  prizes  about  the  villages  and 
crossways ;  and,  joyous  amid  their  cups,  danced  in  the  soft 
meadows  on  wine-skins  smeared  with  oil.  [On  the  same  ac- 
count,] the  Ausonian35  colonists  also,  a  race  sent  from  Troy, 
sport  in  uncouth  strains,  and  unbounded  laughter ;  assuming 
horrid  masks  of  hollowed  barks  of  trees  :  and  thee,  Bacchus, 
they  invoke  in  jovial  songs,  and  to  thee  hang  up  mild  images58 
from  the  tall  pine.  Hence  every  vineyard  shoots  forth  with 
large  produce ;  both  the  hollow  vales  and  deep  lawns  are  filled 
with  plenty,  and  wherever  the  god  hath  moved  around  his 
propitious  countenance.  Therefore  will  we  solemnly  ascribe 
to  Bacchus  his  due  honors  in  our  country's  lays,  and  offer 
chargers,  and  the  consecrated  cakes ;  and  the  sacred  goat  led 
by  the  horn  shall  stand  at  his  altar,  and  we  will  roast  the  fat 
entrails  on  hazel  spits. 

There  is  also  that  other  toil  in  dressing  the  vines  ;  on 
which  you  can  never  bestow  pains  enough  :  for  the  whole  soil 
must  be  plowed  three  or  four  times  every  year,  and  the 

83  These  must  not  be  confounded  with  either  the  bison  or  the  buffalo. 
See  Anthon.  B. 

34  Proscenia.  In  the  Roman  theater  there  was  first  the  portions  or 
gallery  for  the  populace,  where  the  seats  were  formed  like  wedges,  grow- 
ing narrower  as  they  came  near  the  center  of  the  theater,  and  therefore 
called  cunei,  or  wedges.  2.  The  orchestra,  in  the  center  and  lowest  part 
of  the  theater,  where  the  senators  and  knights  sat,  and  where  the  dancers 
and  musicians  performed.  3.  The  proscenium,  or  space  before  the  scenes, 
which  was  raised  above  the  orchestra,  and  where  the  actors  spoke. 

85  Ausonian,  etc.,  the  inhabitants  of  Ausonia,  an  ancient  name  of  Italy, 
who  were  supposed  to  be  descended  from  ^Eneas. 

86  Compare  Anthon's  remark :  "  And  in  honor  of  thee  hang  up  the 
mild  oscilla  on  the  tall  pine."     Oscittum,  a  diminutive,  through  osculum, 
from  os,  means,  properly,  "  a  little  face,  and  was  the  term  applied  to  faces 
or  heads  of  Bacchus,  which  were  suspended  in  the  vineyards  to  be  turned 
in  every  direction  by  the  wind.  "Whichsoever  way  they  looked,  they  were 
supposed  to  make  the  vines  and  other  things  hi  that  quarter  fruitful." 


B.  n.  400—435.  G-EORGICS.  63 

clods  continually  be  broken  with  bended  drags;  the  whole 
grove  mnst  be  disburdened  of  its  leaves.  The  farmer's  past 
labor  returns  in  a  circle,  and  the  year  rolls  round  on  itself  on 
its  own  steps.  And  now,  when  at  length  the  vineyard  has 
shed  its  late  leaves,  and  the  cold  north  wind  has  shaken  from 
the  groves  their  honors  ;37  even  then  the  active  swain  extends 
his  cares  to  the  coming  year,  and  closely  plies  the  forsaken 
vine,  cutting  off  [the  superfluous  roots]  with  Saturn's  crooked 
hook,  and  forms  it  by  pruning.  Be  the  first  to  trench  the 
ground,  be  the  first  to  carry  home  and  burn  the  shoots,  and 
the  first  to  return  beneath  your  roof  the  vine-props :  be  the 
last  to  reap  the  vintage.  Twice  the  shade  assails  the  vines ; 
twice  do  weeds  overrun  the  field  with  thick  bushes;  each  a 
hard  labor.  Commend  large  farms  ;  cultivate  a  small  one. 
Besides  all  this,  the  rough  twigs  of  butcher's-broom  are  to  be 
cut  throughout  the  woods,  and  the  watery  reed  on  the  banks : 
and  the  care  of  the  uncultivated  willow  gives  new  toil.  Now 
the  vines  are  tied ;  now  the  vineyard  lays  aside  the  pruning- 
hook  ;  now  the  exhausted  vintager  salutes  in  song  his  utmost 
rows  :  yet  must  the  earth  be  vexed  anew,  and  the  mold  put 
in  motion ;  and  now  Jove  is  to  be  dreaded  by  the  ripened 
grapes. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  olives  require  no  culture ;  nor  do 
they  expect  the  crooked  pruning-hook  and  tenacious  harrows, 
when  once  they  are  rooted  in  the  ground,  and  have  stood  the 
blasts.  Earth  of  herself  supplies  the  plants  with  moisture, 
when  opened  by  the  hooked  tooth  of  the  drag,  and  weighty 
fruits,  when  [opened]  by  the  share.  Nurture  for  thyself  with 
this  the  fat  and  peace-delighting  olive.  The  fruit-trees  too, 
as  soon  as  they  feel  their  trunks  vigorous,  and  acquire  their 
strength,  quickly  shoot  up  to  the  stars  by  their  own  virtue, 
and  need  not  our  assistance.  At  the  same  time,  every  grove 
is  in  like  manner  loaded  with  offspring,  and  the  uncultivated 
haunts  of  birds  glow  with  blood-red  berries:  the  cytisus  is 
browsed ;  the  tall  wood  supplies  with  torches ;  and  our  noc- 
turnal fires  are  fed,  and  shed  beamy  light.  And  do  men  hesi- 
tate to  plant  and  bestow  care  ? 

Why  should  I  insist  on  greater  things  ?  The  very  willows 
and  lowly  broom  supply  either  browse  for  cattle,  or  shade  for 


Hor.  Ep.  ii.  5.     "  December — silvis  honorem  decutit."     B. 


* 

64  GBORGICS.  B.  n.  436—462. 

shepherds,  fences  for  the  corn,  and  materials  for  honey.  It  is 
delightful  to  behold  Cytorus38  waving  with  the  grove  of  Na- 
rycian  pitch :  it  is  delightful  to  see  the  fields  not  indebted  to 
the  harrows,  or  to  any  care  of  men.  Even  the  barren  woods 
on  the  top  of  Caucasus,  which  the  fierce  east  winds  continually 
are  crushing  and  tearing,  yield  each  their  different  produce  : 
they  yield  pines,  an  useful  wood  for  ships,  and  cedars  and  cy- 
presses for  houses.  Hence  the  husbandmen  have  rounded 
spokes  for  wheels  ;  hence  they  have  framed  solid  orbs  for 
wagons,  and  bending  keels  for  ships.  The  willows  are  fertile 
in  twigs,  the  elms  in  leaves  for  fodder ;  the  myrtle  again  is 
useful  for  sturdy  spears,  and  the  cornel  for  war  ;  the  yews 
are  bent  into  Ityraean  bows.89  In  like  manner  the  smooth- 
grained  limes,  or  box  polished  by  the  lathe,  receive  a  shape, 
and  are  hollowed  with  sharp  steel.  Thus  too  the  light  alder, 
launched  on  the  Po,40  swims  the  rapid  stream ;  thus  too  the 
bees  hide  their  swarms  in  the  hollow  bark,  and  in  the  heart  of 
a  rotten  holm.  What  have  the  gifts  of  Bacchus  produced  so 
worthy  of  record  ?  Bacchus  has  given  occasion  to  offense  and 
guilt :  he  quelled  by  death  the  furious  Centaurs,41  Rhoetus  and 
Pholus,  and  Hylaeus  threatening  the  Lapithae  with  a  huge 
goblet. 

Ah !  the  too  happy  swains,  did  they  but  know  their  own 
bliss  !  to  whom,  at  a  distance  from  discordant  arms,  earth,  of 
herself  most  liberal,  pours  from  her  bosom  their  easy  susten- 
ance. If  the  palace,  high  raised  with  proud  gates,  vomits  not 
forth  from  all  its  apartments  a  vast  tide  of  morning  visitants  ; 

88  Cytorus  (Kidros),  a  city  and   mountain  of  Paphlagonia,  on  the 
Euxine.     Narycian  pitch,  from  Narycia,  a  town  of  the  Locrians  in  Magna 
Graecia,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  were  forests  of  pine,  etc. 

89  Ityraean  bows,  from  Ityraea,  a  province  of  Syria,  whose  inhabitants 
were  famous  archers. 

40  Po,  anciently  called  also  Eridanus,  the  largest  river  of  Italy,  rises 
in  Mount  Vestulus,  one  of  the  highest  mountains  of  the  Alps,  and  after  an 
easterly  course  of  nearly  400  miles,  and  receiving  numerous  tributary 
streams,  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Adriatic,  about  30  miles  S.  of  the 
city  of  Venice. 

41  Centaurs,  a  people  of  Thessaly,  represented  as  monsters,  half  men 
and  half  horses.     The  Lapithse,  also  a  people  of  Thessaly,  who  inhabited 
the  country  about  Mount  Pindus  and  Othrys.     The  allusion  here  is  to 
the  battle  of  the  Centaurs  and  Lapithae,  at  the  celebration  of  the  nuptials 
of  Pirithous,  king  of  the  latter,  who  invited  not  only  the  heroes  of  his 
age,  but  also  the  gods  themselves.     In  the  contest  that  ensued,  many 
of  the  Centaurs  were  slain,  and  the  rest  saved  themselves  by  flight. 


u.  n.  463—492.  GEORGICS.  65 

and  they  gape  not  at  porticoes  variegated  with  beauteous  tor- 
toise-shell, and  on  tapestries  tricked  with  gold,  and  on  Co- 
rinthian brass ;  and  if  the  white  wool  is  not  stained  with  the 
Assyrian '  drug,  nor  the  use  of  the  pure  oil  corrupted  with 
Cassia's  aromatic  bark  ;  yet  [there  is]  peace  secure,  and  a  life 
ignorant  of  guile,  rich  in  various  opulence  ;  yet  [theirs  are] 
peaceful  retreats  in  ample  fields,  grottoes,  and  living  lakes ; 
yet  [to  them]  cool  vales,  the  lowings  of  kine,  and  soft  slum- 
bers under  a  tree,  are  not  wanting.  There  are  woodlands  and 
haunts  for  beasts  of  chase,  and  youth  patient  of  toil,  and 
inured  to  thrift ;  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  fathers  held  in 
veneration  :  Justice,  when  she  left  the  world  took  her  last  steps 
among  them. 

But  me  may  the  Muses,  sweet  above  all  things  else,45  whose 
sacred  symbols  I  bear,  smitten  with  violent  love,  first  receive 
into  favor ;  and  show  me  the  paths  of  heaven,  and  constella- 
tions ;  the  various  eclipses  of  the  sun,  and  labors  of  the 
moon ;  whence  the'  trembling  of  the  earth  ;  from  what  influ- 
ence the  seas  swell  high,  bursting  their  barriers,  and  again 
sink  back  into  themselves ;  why  the  winter  suns  make  such 
haste  to  dip  themselves  in  the  ocean,  or  what  delay  retards 
the  slow-paced  [summer]  nights. 

But  if  the  cold  blood  about  my  heart  hinders  me  from 
penetrating  into  these  parts  of  nature ;  let  fields  and  streams 
gliding  in  the  valleys  be  my  delight ;  inglorious  may  I  court 
the  rivers  and  the  woods.  O  [to  be]  where  are  the  plains,43 
and  Sperchius,  and  Taygetus,44  the  scenes  of  Bacchanalian 
revels  to  Spartan  maids !  O  who  will  place  me  in  the  cool  val- 
leys of  Hsemus,  and  shelter  me  with  the  thick  shade  of  boughs  ? 
Happy  is  he  who  has  been  able  to  trace  out  the  causes  of 
things,  and  who  has  cast  beneath  his  feet  all  fears,  and  in- 
exorable Destiny,  and  the  noise  of  devouring  Acheron  ?" 

42  I  have  followed  Wagner  in  joining  "dulcesante  omnia,"  but  I  have 
some  doubts  whether  the  old  interpretation  is  not  better.     B. 

43  Thessalian  plains.    Thessaly,  a  country  of  Greece,  south  of  Mace- 
donia, in  which  was  the  celebrated  vale  of  Tempe.     Sperchius,  a  river 
of  Thessaly,  rises  in  Mount  (Eta,  and  runs  into  the  Maliac  Gulf,  near  the 
pass  of  Thermopylae. 

44  Taygetus,  a  mountain  of  Laconia  in  Peloponnesus  (Morea),  on  which 
were  celebrated  the  orgies  of  Bacchus ;  it  hung  over  the  city  of  Sparta, 
and  extended  from  Ttenarus  to  Arcadia. 

45  Acheron,  one  of  the  rivers  of  hell,  according  to  the  ancient  poets ; 


66  GEORGICS.  B.  n.  493—521. 

Blest  too  is  he  who  has  known  the  rural  deities,  Pan  and  old 
Silvanus,  and  the  sister  nymphs !  him  nor  the  fasces  of  the 
people,  nor  the  purple  of  kings  ;  nor  discord  persecuting  faith- 
less brothers,  nor  the  Dacian  descending  from  the  conspiring 
Danube;48  nor  the  revolutions  of  Rome,  or  perishing  king- 
doms, have  moved.  He  neither  pined  with  grief,  lamenting 
the  poor,  nor  envied  the  rich.  What  fruits  the  boughs,  what 
the  willing  fields  spontaneously  yielded,  he  gathered  ;  nor  saw 
the  iron-hearted  laws,  the  madly  litigious  bar,  or  the  public 
courts. 

Some  vex  the  dangerous  seas  with  oars,  some  rush  into 
arms,  some  work  their  way  into  courts,  and  the  palaces  of 
kings.  One  destines  a  city  and  wretched  families  to  destruc- 
tion, that  he  may  drink  in  gems,  and  sleep  on  Tyrian  purple.47 
Another  hoards  up  wealth,  and  broods  over  buried  gold. 
One,  astonished  at  the  rostrum,  grows  giddy  ;  another,  peals 
of  applause  along  the  rows  (for  it  is  redoubled  both  by  the 
people  and  the  fathers),  have  captivated,  and  set  agape ;  some 
rejoice  when  stained  with  their  brother's  blood  ;  and  exchange 
their  homes  and  sweet  thresholds  for  exile,  and  seek  a  coun- 
try lying  under  another  sun.  The  husbandman  cleaves  the 
earth  with  a  crooked  plow  ;  hence  the  labors  of  the  year; 
hence  he  sustains  the  countiy,  and  his  little  offspring;  hence 
his  herds  of  kine,  and  deserving  steers.  Nor  is  there  any  in- 
termission, but  the  year  either  abounds  with  apples,  or  with 
the  breed  of  the  flocks,  or  with  the  sheaf  of  Ceres'  stalk  ;  loads 
the  furrows  with  increase,  and  overstocks  the  barns.  Winter 
comes :  the  Sicyonian*8  berry  is  pounded  in  the  oil-presses ; 
the  swine  come  home  gladdened  with  acorns  ;  the  woods  yield 
their  arbutes ;  and  the  autumn  lays  down  its  various  produc- 

often  taken  for  hell  itself.  Virgil  here  follows  Lucretius,  i.  37,  "Et 
metus  ille  foras  praeceps  Acheruntis  agendus  Funditus,  humanarn  qui 
vitam  turbat  ab  imo,  Omnia  suffundens  mortis  nigrore."  And  soon  after, 
vs.  79,  "  Quare  religio  pedibus  subjecta."  B. 

"  The  Danube  rises  in  the  black  forest  of  Suabia,  and,  after  a  course 
of  about  1600  miles,  discharges  itself  into  the  Euxine  Sea.  The  Dacians 
inhabited  an  extensive  country,  north  of  the  Danube,  now  called  "ft'alla- 
chia,  Transylvania,  and  Moldavia. 

41  Tyrian  purple,  from  Tyre,  a  city  of  Phoenicia  in  Asia,  celebrated  for 
its  early  commerce  and  numerous  colonies,  and  for  the  invention  of  sear- 
let  and  purple  colors ;  its  ancient  name  was  Sarra,  now  Soor. 

48  Sicyonian  berry,  the  olive,  with  which  Sicyonia,  a  district  of  Pelo- 
ponnesus, in  Greece,  abounded. 


B.  n.  521—542.     in.  1—3.      GEORGICS.  67 

• 

tions ;  and  high  on  the  sunny  rocks  the  mild  vintage  is 
ripened.  Meanwhile  the  sweet  babes  twine  round  their  pa- 
rents' neck :  his  chaste  family  maintain  their  purity  ;  the  cows 
hang  down  their  udders  full  of  milk ;  and  the  fat  kids  wrestle 
together  with  butting  horns  on  the  cheerful  green.  The  swain 
himself  celebrates  festal  days  ;  and,  extended  on  the  grass, 
where  a  fire  is  in  the  middle,  and  where  his  companions  crown 
the  bowl,  invokes  thee,  O  Lenaeus,  making  libation ;  and  on 
an  elm  sets  forth  to  the  masters  of  the  flock  prizes  to  be  con- 
tended for  with  the  winged  javelin  ;  and  they  strip  their  hardy 
bodies  for  the  rustic  ring. 

This  life  of  old  the  ancient  Sabines  ;"  this  Remus  and  his 
brother  strictly  observed  ;  thus  Etruria60  grew  in  strength  ; 
and  thus  too  did  Rome  become  the  glory  and  beauty  of  the 
world,  and,  single,  hath  encompassed  for  herself  seven  hills 
with  a  wall.  This  life,  too,  golden  Saturn  led  on  earth,  be- 
fore the  sceptered  sway  of  the  Dictsean"  kjng,  and  before  an 
impious  race  feasted  on  slain  bullocks.  Nor  yet  had  mankind 
heard  the  warlike  trumpets  blow ;  nor  yet  the  swords  laid  on 
the  hard  anvils  clatter. 

But  we  have  finished  this  immensely  extended  field  ;  and  now 
it  is  time  to  unloose  the  smoking  necks  of  our  steeds. 

BOOK  HL 

In  the  third  Book,  after  invoking  the  rural  deities,  and  eulogizing  Augustus, 
Virgil  treats  of  the  management  of  cattle,  laying  down  rules  for  the  choice 
and  breeding  of  horses,  oxen,  sheep,  etc.  The  book  abounds  in  admirable 
descriptions ;  many  passages  are  inimitably  fine. 

THEE,  too,  great  Pales,  and  thee,  famed  shepherd  from  Am- 
phrysus,1  ye  woods  and  Arcadian  rivers,  will  I  sing.  Other 
themes,  that  might  have  entertained  minds  disengaged  from 

49  Sabines,  an  ancient  people  of  Italy,  reckoned  among  the  aborigines, 
or  those  inhabitants  whose  origin  was  unknown ;  their  country  was  situ* 
ated  between  the  rivers  Tiber,  Nar,  and  Anio,  having  the  Apennines  on 
the  east. 

50  Etruria  (Tuscany),  a  country  of  Italy  lying  west  of  the  Tiber. 

51  Dicta;an  king,  Jupiter  is  so  called  from  Mount  Dicte  in  Crete,  where 
he  was  worshiped. 

1  Amphrysus,  a  river  of  Thessaly,  on  the  banks  of  which  Apollo  fed 
the  flocks  of  king  Admetus.  Arcadian  rivers :  Arcadia  was  a  pastoral 
district  of  Peloponnesus  in  Greece,  of  which  Pan  was  the  tutelary  deity. 


68  GEORGICS.  B.  m.  4—26. 

.   -     • 

song,  are  now  all  trite  and  common.  Who  is  unacquainted 
either  with  severe  Eurystheus,8  or  the  altars  of  infamous 
Busiris  ?  By  whom  has  not  the  boy  Hylas  been  recorded,  and 
Latonian  Delos  ?3  or  Hippodame,4  and  Pelops,  conspicuous 
for  his  ivory  shoulders,  victorious  in  the  race  ?  I,  too,  must  at- 
tempt a  way,  whereby  I  may  raise  myself  from  the  ground,  and 
victorious  hover  through  the  lips  of  men. 

I  first  returning  from  the  Aonian  mount,  will  (provided 
life  remain)  bring  along  with  me  the  Muses  into  my  country; 
for  thee,  O  Mantua,  I  first  will  bear  off  the  Idumaean*  palms, 
and  on  thy  verdant  plains  erect  a  temple  of  marble,  near  the 
stream  where  the  great  Mincius  winds  in  slow  meanders,  and 
fringes  the  banks  with  tender  reeds.  In  the  middle  will  I  have 
Csesar,  and  he  shall  command  the  temple.  In  honor  of  him 
will  I  victorious,  and  in  Tynan  purple  conspicuous,  drive  a 
hundred  four-horsed  chariots  along  the  river.  For  me  all 
Greece,  leaving  Alpheus'  and  the  groves  of  Molorchus,  shall 
contend  in  races  and  the  raw-hide  cestus.  I  myself,  graced 
with  leaves  of  the  shorn  olive,  will  bear  offerings.  Even  now 
I  am  well  pleased  to  lead  on  the  solemn  pomps  to  the  temple, 
and  to  see  the  bullocks  slain ;  or  how  the  scene  with  shifting 
front  retires ;  and  how  the  inwoven  Britons  lift  up  the  purple 
curtain.  On  the  doors  will  I  delineate,  in  gold  and  solid 

8  Eurystheua,  king  of  Argos  and  Mycenae,  who,  at  the  instigation  of 
Juno,  imposed  upon  Hercules  the  most  perilous  enterprises,  well  known 
by  the  name  of  the  twelve  labors  of  Hercules.  Busiris,  a  king  of 
Egypt,  noted  for  his  cruelty  in  sacrificing  all  foreigners  who  entered  his 
country. 

3  Delos,  a  small  but  celebrated  island  of  the  ^Egean  Sea,  nearly  in 
the  center  of  the  Cyclades,  in  which  Latona  gave  birth  to  Apollo  and 
Diana;    hence  the  former  is  frequently  called    Delius,  and   the  latter 
Delia. 

4  Hippodame,  a  daughter  of  (Enomaus,  king  of  Pisa  in  Elis.     Her 
father  refused  to  marry  her  except  to  him  who  could  overcome  him  in  a 
chariot  race ;  thirteen  had  already  been   conquered,  and  forfeited  their 
lives,  when  Pelops,  the  son  of  Tantalus,  entered  the  lists,  and  by  bribing 
Myrtilus,  the  charioteer  of  (Enomaus,  insured  to  himself  the  victory. 

5  Idumasan  palms,  from  Idumasa,  a  country  of  Syria,  on  the  south  of 
Judaea,  famed  for  its  palm-trees. 

6  Alpheus  (Rouphia),   a  river  of  Elis   in    Peloponnesus,    where  the 
Olympic  games  were  celebrated.     Molorchus,  a  shepherd  of  Argolis,  who 
kindly  received  Hercules,  and  in  return  the  hero  slew  the  Nemsean  lion 
which  laid  waste  the  country ;    hence  the  institution  of  the  Nemscan 
games. 


B.  in.  21—45.  GEORGICS.  69 

ivory,  the  battle  of  the  Gangarides/  and  the  arms  of  conquer- 
ing Quirinus  ;  and  here  the  Nile8  swelling  with 'war,  flowing 
majestic,  and  columns  rising  with  naval  brass.  I  will  add  the 
vanquished  cities  of  Asia,  and  subdued  Niphates,'  and  the 
Parthian  presuming  on  his  flight  and  arrows  shot  backward,10 
and  two  trophies  snatched  by  the  hand  from  two  widely-distant 
foes,  and  nations  twice  triumphant  over  on  either  shore.  Here 
too  shall  stand  in  Parian11  marble,  breathing  statues,  the  off- 
spring of  Assaracus,12  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Jove-descended 
race  ;  both  Tros,  the  great  ancestor  [of  Rome],  and  Cynthian 
Apollo,  founder  of  Troy.  Here  baneful  envy  shall  dread  the 
Furies,  and  the  grim  river  of  Cocytus,13  Ixion's  twisted  snakes, 
the  enormous  wheel,  and  the.  insurmountable  stone. 

Meanwhile,  let  us  pursue  the  woods  of  the  Dryads,  and  un- 
trodden lawns ;  thy  commands,  Maecenas,  of  no  easy  import. 
Without  thee  my  mind  ventures  on  nothing  sublime ;  come 
then,  break  off  idle  delays.  Cithseron14  calls  with  loud  halloo, 
and  the  hounds  of  Taygetus,  and  Epidaurus,  the  tamer  of 
horses ;  and  the  voice,  doubled  by  the  assenting  groves,  re- 

7  Gangarides,  a  people  of  Asia,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges. 

8  Nile,  a  great  river  of  Africa,  and  one  of  the  most  celebrated  in  the 
world,  is  generally  supposed  to  have  its  sources  in  that  immense  chain 
of  mountains  in  Central  Africa,  called  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon.     Its 
course  runs  in  a  northerly  direction,  flowing  through  Nubia  and  Egypt ; 
a  little  below  Cairo  it  divides  itself  into  two  great  branches,  which  en- 
close the  Delta,  and  fall  into  the  Mediterranean,  the  western  branch  at 
Rosetta,  and  the  eastern  at  Damietta. 

9  Niphates,  a  mountain  of  Armenia,  part  of  the  range  of  Taurus,  from 
which  the  river  Tigris  takes  its  rise. 

10  Cf.  Plutarch,    Crass,    p.    558,   ii-fyevyov    yap   fifia  fiuhlovref  .ol 
UdpOoi.     B. 

11  Parian  marble,  from  Paros,  an  island  of  the  JEgean  Sea,  one  of  the 
Cyclades,  famed  for  its  beautiful  white  marble. 

IJ  Assaracus,  a  Trojan  prince,  father  of  Capys,  and  grandfather  of  An- 
chises.  Tros,  a  son  of  Erichthonius,  king  of  Troy,  which  was  so  named 
after  him.  Cyntliian  Apollo :  the  surname  is  from  Cynthus,  a  mountain 
in  the  island  of  Delos,  where  Apollo  and  Diana  were  born,  and  which 
was  sacred  to  them. 

13  Cocytus,  a  river  of  Epirus  in  Greece,  called  by  the  poets  one  of  the 
rivers  of  hell.     Ixion,  a  king  of  Thessaly,  whom  Jupiter  is  fain  to  have 
struck  with  his  thunder  for  having  attempted  to  seduce  Juno ;  he  was 
bound  with  serpents  to  a  wheel  in  hell,  which  was  perpetually  in  motion. 

14  Cithseron,  a  mountain  of  Boeotia  in  Greece,  sacred  to  Jupiter  and 
the  Muses.     Epidaurus  (Pidavra),  a  city  of  Argolis  in  Peloponnesus, 
famed  for  a  temple  of  Esculapius,  and  for  its  fine  breed  of  horses. 


70  GEORGICS.  B.  in.  46—80. 

echoes.  Yet  ere  long  shall  I  be  prepared  to  sing  of  Caesar's 
ardent  battles,  and  to  transmit  his  name  with  honor  through 
as  many  years  as  Caesar  is  distant  from  the  first  origin  of 
Tithonus.  .  .1 

Whether  any  one,  aspiring  to  the  praises  of  the  Olympian 
palm,  breeds  horses,  or  whether  any  one  [breeds]  sturdy  bul- 
locks for  the  plow,  let  him  choose  with  special  care  the 
bodies  of  the  mothers.  The  stern-eyed  heifer's  form  is  best, 
whose  head  is  disproportionately  large,  whose  neck  is  brawny, 
and  whose  dew-laps  hang  from  the  chin  down  to  the  legs. 
Then  there  is  no  measure  in  her  length  of  side  ;  all  her  parts 
are  huge,  even  her  foot ;  and  her  eyes  are  rough  under  her 
crumpled16  horns.  Nor  would  she  displease  me  if  streaked  with 
white  spots,  or  if  she  refuses  the  yoke,  and  sometimes  is  surly 
with  her  horn,  and  in  aspect  approaches  nearer  to  a  bull,  and 
if  she  is  stately  throughout,  and  sweeps  her  steps  with  the  ex- 
tremity of  her  tail,  as  she  goes  along. 

The  age  to  undergo  breeding  and  proper  union  ends  before 
ten,  and  begins  after  four  years  :  the  other  years  [cows]  are 
neither  fit  for  breeding,  nor  strong  for  the  plow.  Mean- 
time, while  the  flocks  abound  with  sprightly  youth,  let  loose 
the  males  ;  be  the  first  to  indulge  thy  cattle  in  the  joys  of 
love :  and  by  generation  raise  up  one  race  after  another.  Each 
best  time  of  life  fly  fast  away  from  wretched  mortals  :  dis- 
eases succeed,  and  sad  old  age,  and  pain ;  and  the  inclemency 
of  inexorable  death  snatches  them  away.  There  will  always 
be  some  whose  bodies  you  would  choose  to  have  changed  [for 
better].  Therefore  continually  repair  them  ;  and,  that  you 
may  not  regret  them  when  lost,  be  beforehand,  and  yearly 
provide  a  new  offspring  for  the  herd. 

The  same  discriminating  care  is  also  requisite  for  a  breed 
of  horses.  But  still,  on  those  which  you  intend  to  bring  up 
for  the  hope  of  the  race,  bestow  your  principal  diligence  im- 
mediately from  their  tender  years.  The  colt  of  generous 
breed  from  the  very  first  walks  high  throughout  the  fields, 
and  nimbly  moves  his  pliant  legs  ;  he  is  the  first  that  dares  to 
lead  the  way,  and  tempt  the  threatening  floods,  and  trust  him- 
self to  an  unknown  bridge  ;  nor  starts  affrighted  at  vain 
alarms.  Lofty  is  his  neck,  his  head  little  and  slender,  his 

15  Nonius,  Marc,  i.,  explains  "  caraurum  by  obtortum."  Hesiod,  Opp. 
452,  eAtxaf  /toiif.  B. 


B.  in.  81—109.  GEORGICS.  71 

belly  short,  his  back  plump,  and  his  proud  chest  swells  luxu- 
riant with  brawny  muscles :  (the  bright  bay  and  bluish  gray 
are  in  most  request ;  the  worst  colors  are  the  white  and  sor- 
rel.) Then,  if  he  by  chance  hears  the  distant  sound  of  arms, 
he  knows  not  how  to  stand  still ;  he  pricks  up  his  ears,  trem- 
bles in  every  joint,  and  snorting,  rolls  the  collected  fire  under 
his  nostrils.  Thick  is  his  mane,  and,  waving,  rests  on  his  right 
shoulder.  A  double  spine16  runs  along  his  loins,  his  hoof 
scoops  up  the  ground,  and  deep  resounds  with  its  solid  horn. 
Such  was  Cyllarus,  broken  by  the  reins  of  Amyclaean  Pollux,17 
and  such  (which  the  Grecian  poets  have  described)  the  har- 
nessed brace  of  Mars,  and  the  chariot-horses18  of  great  Achil- 
les. Such  Saturn  too  himself,  swift  at  the  coming  of  his  wife, 
spread  out  a  full  mane  on  his  [assumed]  horse's  neck,  and  flying 
filled  lofty  Pelion  with  shrill  neighing. 

Him  too,  when  with  sickness  oppressed,  or  now  enfeebled 
with  years,  he  fails,  shut  up  in  his  lodge,  and  spare  his  not  in- 
glorious age.  An  old  horse  is  cold  to  love,  and  in  vain  drags 
on  the  ungrateful  task,  and  if  ever  he  comes  to  an  engagement, 
he  is  impotently  furious,  as  at  times  a  great  fire  without 
strength  among  stubble.  Therefore  chiefly  mark  their  spirit 
and  age  ;  then  their  other  qualities,  their  parentage,  and  what 
is  the  sorrow  of  each  when  vanquished,  what  the  pride  when 
victorious. 

•See  you  not?19  when  in  the  rapid  race  the  chariots  have 
seized  the  plain,  and  pouring  forth  rush  along;  when  the 
hopes  of  the  youth  are  elevated,  and  palpitating  fear  heaves 
their  throbbing  hearts :  they  ply  with  the  twisted  lash,  and 
bending  forward  give  full  reins :  the  axle  flies  glowing  with 
the  impetuosity.  And  now  low,  now  high,  they  seem  to  be 
borne  aloft  through  the  open  air,  and  to  mount  up  into  the 

18  In  a  horse  that  is  in  good  case,  the  back  is  broad,  and  a  fullness  of 
flesh  near  the  spine  is  indicated,  by  which  two  ridges  are  formed,  one  at 
each  side  of  the  bone.     This  is  what  the  ancients  mean  by  a  double 
spine.    VALPY. 

17  Amyclsean  Pollux  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  by  Leda,  and  the  twin 
brother  of  Castor ;  he  was  so  called  from  Amiclse,  a  city  of  Lyconia, 
where  he  was  born. 

"  With  this  sense  of  "currus,"  compare  the  similar  Greek  usage, 
Eur.  Hipp.  1224,  rerpupov  iKpaivuv  ojov,  vs.  1352,  ed.  Monk,  and  Ion, 
1151.  B. 

19  This  is  a  formula  used  in  adducing  examples.     Comp.  Georg.  i.  56 ; 
Lucr.  ii.  196.     HlCKiE. 


72  GEORGICS.  B.  in.  110—137. 

skies.  No  stop,  no  stay":  but  a  thick  cloud  of  yellow  sand  is 
tossed  up :  the  foremost  are  wet  with  the  foam  and  breath  of 
those  that  follow.  So  powerful  is  the  love  of  praise,  so  anxious 
the  desire  of  victory. 

First  Erichthonius*0  dared  to  yoke  the  chariot  and  four 
steeds,  and  upon  the  rapid  wheels  victorious  to  stand.  The 
Pelethronian  Lapithae  first  mounted  on  horseback  applied  the 
reins,  and  turned  him  in  the  ring ;  taught  the  horsemen  under 
arms  to  spurn  the  plain,  and  with  proud  ambling  pace  to 
prance  along.  Either  toil  is  equal ;  with  equal  care  the  mas- 
ters in  either  case  seek  after  a  [steed  that  is]  youthful,  of 
warm  mettle,  and  eager  in  the  race  :  [they  do  not  make  choice 
of  an  old  horse,]  though  often  he  may  have  driven  before  him 
the  flying  foes,  may  boast  of  Epirus,  or  of  warlike  Mycenae" 
for  his  country,  and  derive  his  pedigree  even  from  Neptune's 
breed. 

These  things  observed,  they  are  very  careful  about  the  time 
[of  generation],  and  bestow  all  their  care  to  plump  him  up 
with  firm  fat  whom  they  have  chosen  leader,  and  assigned 
stallion  to  the  herd :  they  cut  downy  herbs,  and  supply  him 
with  plenty  of  water  and  corn,  that  he  may  be  adequate  toaa 
the  soothing  toil,  and  lest  the  puny  sons  should  declare  the 
meagemess  of  their  sires.  But  they  purposely  attenuate  the 
brood  mares  with  leanness :  and,  when  now  the  known  pleas- 
ure solicits  the  first  enjoyment,  they  both  deny  herbs,  and 
debar  them  from  the  springs ;  often  too  they  shake  them  in 
the  race,  and  tire  them  in  the  sun,  when  beneath  the  beaten 
grain  the  barn  floor  deeply  groans,  and  in  the  rising  zephyr 
the  empty  chaff  is  tossed  about.  This  they  do,  that  excessive 
pampering  may  not  blunt  the  powers  of  the  genial  soil,  and 
choke  up  the  sluggish  passages ;  but  that  it  may  with  eager- 
ness drink  in  the  joys  of  love,  and  lay  them  up  more  deeply 
within.  * 

80  Erichthonius,  a  son  of  Vulcan,  and  king  of  Athens ;  the  invention 
of  chariots  is  ascribed  to  him.  Pelethronian  Lapithae,  so  called  from 
Pelethronium,  a  town  of  Thessaly  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Pelion,  inhabited 
by  the  Lapithae,  who  were  excellent  horsemen. 

S1  Mycense,  a  city  of  Argolis  in  Peloponnesus,  once  the  capital  of  a 
kingdom,  and  the  residence  of  Agamemnon. 

*a  "  Superesse"  is  explained  "  prsestantior  esse"  by  the  Scholiast  on 
Avianus,  Fab.  xiii.  10,  but  more  clearly  by  Gellius,  i.  22,  "  supra  laborem 
esae,  neque  opprimi  a  labore."  B. 


B.  m.  138—164.  GEOBGICS.  73 

Again  the  cares  of  the  sires  begin  to  fail,  and  that  of  the 
dams  to  succeed ;  when  now,  their  months  elapsed,  they  rove 
about  pregnant :  let  no  one  suffer  them  to  drag  the  yokes  of 
heavy  wagons2*  or  to  leap  across  the  way,  scamper  over  the 
meads  with  sprightly  career,  and  swim  the  rapid  floods.  They 
ought  then  to  feed2*  in  spacious  lawns,  and  beside  full  rivers, 
where  moss,  and  grassy  banks  of  prime  verdure,  and  caves  may 
shelter  them,  and  over  them  a  shady  rock  project. 

About  the  groves  of  Silarus,"  and  Alburnus,  verdant  with 
ever-green  oaks,  abounds  a  flying  thing,"8  which  the  Romans 
name  asilus,  and  the  Greeks  in  their  language  have  rendered 
oestros;  of  angry  sting,  humming  harshly;  with  which  whole 
herds  affrighted  fly  dispersed  through  the  woods ;  the  sky  is 
furiously  shaken  with  bellowings,  and  the  woods  and  banks  of 
dry  Tanagrus.  With  this  monster  did  Juno  once  exercise  her 
fell  revenge,  having  meditated  a  plague  for  the  Inachian" 
heifer.  This,  too  (for  in  the  noontide  heat  it  rages  more  keen- 
ly), you  must  keep  off  from  the  pregnant  cattle  ;  and  feed  your 
herds  when  the  sun  is  newly  risen,  or  when  the  stars  usher  in 
the  night. 

After  the  birth,  the  whole  care  is  transferred  to  the  calves ; 
and  from  the  first  they  stamp  with  a  hot  iron  the  marks  and 
names  of  the  race  ;  and  which  they  choose  to  bring  up  for  the 
increase  of  the  flock,  or  to  keep  sacred  for  the  altar,  or  to  cleave 
the  ground,  ami  turn  up  the  soil  all  rugged  with  broken  clods  : 
the  rest  of  the  herd  graze  amid  the  green  pastures. 

Those  which  you  would  form  for  the  design  and  service  of 
agriculture,  train  up  while  calves,  and  enter  on  the  way  to 

33  Here  wagons  stand  for  any  "  wheeled  vehicle."    HICKTE. 

"  Or  rather,  "scamper  over."  Heyne  remarks,  "  proprie  via  carpitur 
per  prata."  B. 

"  Silarus  (Sele),  a  river  of  Italy,  separating  Lucania  from  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Picentini ;  its  banks  were  much  infested  with  the  gad-fly. 
Alburnus,  a  lofty  mountain  of  Lucania,  at  the  foot  of  which  rises  the 
river  Tanagros  (Negro),  remarkable  for  its  cascades  and  its  beautiful 
meanderings. 

36  "  Volitans,"  as  Anthon  remarks,  is  here  used  as  a  kind  of  substan- 
tive. Compare  "volucri  asilo,"  Yaler.  Flacc.  iii.  581. 

27  Inachian  heifer.  lo,  daughter  of  Inachus,  and  priestess  of  Juno 
at  Argos,  according  to  the  poets,  was  changed  into  a  heifer  by  Jupiter, 
but  afterward  restored  to  her  own  form,  when  she  married  Telegonua 
or  Osiris,  king  of  Egypt,  and  after  death  was  worshiped  under  the  name 
of  Isia. 

4 


74  GEORGICS.  B.  m.  165 — 197. 

tame  them,  while  their  minds  in  youth  are  tractable,  while 
their  age  is  pliant.  And  first  fasten  about  their  necks  loose 
collars  of  slender  twigs;  next,  when  they  have  accustomed 
their  free  necks  to  servitude,  match  your  bullocks  in  pairs 
joined  by  those  same  collars,  and  make  them  step  together ; 
and  now  let  empty  wheels  be  dragged  by  them  along  the 
ground,  and  let  them  print  their  traces  in  the  surface  of  the 
dust.  Afterward  let  the  beechen  axle  laboring  under  a  pon- 
derous load  creak,  and  the  brass-girt  pole  draw  the  joined 
wheels.  Meanwhile  for  the  young  untamed  bullocks  you  will 
crop  with  your  hand  not  only  grass,  or  the  tender28  leaves  of 
willows,  or  a  marshy  sedge,  but  also  springing  corn  :  nor  shall 
your  suckling  heifers,  as  was  the  custom  of  our  fathers,  fill  the 
snowy  milking-pails,  but  spend  all  their  udders  on  their  sweet 
offspring. 

But  if  thy  inclination  is  to  war  and  martial  troops,  or  with 
thy  wheels  to  skim  along  the  brink  of  Pisa's29  Alphceau 
streams,  and  drive  the  flying  chariot  in  Jupiter's  grove  :  the 
first  task  of  the  horse  must  be  to  view  the  fierceness  and  the 
arms  of  warriors,  to  be  patient  of  the  trumpet,  and  to  bear  the 
rumbling  of  the  wheels  in  their  career,  and  in  his  stall  to  hear 
the  rattling  bridles ;  then  more  and  more  to  rejoice  in  the 
coaxing  praises  of  his  master,  and  to  love  the  sound  of  his 
patted  neck.30  And  these  let  him  hear  as  soon  as  weaned 
from  the  udder  of  his  dam,  and  now  and  then  yield  his  mouth 
to  the  soft  halters  when  weak,  and  yet  trembling,  and  yet  not 
confident  in  his  years.  But,  three  full  years  elapsed,  when 
his  fourth  summer  has  arrived,  let  him  forthwith  begin  to 
wheel  in  the  ring,  and  with  regular  steps  to  prance ;  and  let 
him  bend  the  pliant  joints  of  his  legs  alternately,  and  seem  to 
labor.  Then  let  him  dare  the  winds  in  swiftness,  and 
through  the  open  plains  flying,  as  loosened  from  the  reins, 
scarcely  print  his  steps  on  the  surface  of  the  sand.  As  when 
boisterous  Boreas  hath  rushed  forth  from  the  Hyperborean 
regions,  and  drives  along  the  Scythian  storms  and  dry  clouds ; 

28  "  Vescas"  is  interpreted  by  Servius,  "  siccas  et  teneras."  See  Gro- 
nov.  on  Liv.  xxxiii.  48.  intpp.  on  Lucret.  i.  327.  B. 

S9  Pisa,  an  ancient  city  of  Elis  in  Peloponnesus,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Alpheus,  and  on  the  ruins  of  which  Olympia  is  supposed  to  have  been 
built. 

30  Silius,  iv.  265,  "  stimulans  grato  plauste  cervicis  honore,  Coruipedeni 
alloquitur."  B. 


B.  ra.  198—235.  GEORGICS.  75 

then  the  high  corn  and  waving  fields  tremble  with  the  gentle 
gusts,  the  tops  of  the  woods  rustle,  and  the  lengthened  waves 
press  toward  the  shore :  he  flies,  sweeping  in  his  career  at 
once  the  fields,  at  once  the  seas.  Such  a  courser  will  either 
sweat  at  the  goals  and  spacious  bounds  of  the  Elean  plain,  and 
drive  the  bloody  foam  from  his  mouth,  or  will  better  bear  the 
Belgic  cars  on  his  pliant  neck.  Then  at  last,  when  they  are 
broken,  let  their  ample  bodies  grow  with  fattening  mash  ;  for, 
[if  full  fed]  before  breaking  them  in,  they  will  swell  their 
mettle  high,  and  when  seized,  refuse  to  bear  the  limber  whip, 
and  to  obey  the  hard  curb. 

But  no  industry  more  confirms  their  strength  than  to  avert 
Venus  from  them,  and  the  stings  of  blind  love,  whether  any 
one  be  more  fond  of  a  breed  of  bullocks  or  of  horses.  And 
therefore  they  remove  the  bulls  to  a  distance,  and  to  lonely 
pastures,  behind  an  obstructing  mountain,  and  beyond  broad 
rivers,  or  keep  them  shut  up  within  at  full  cribs ;  for  the  fe- 
male insensibly  consumes  his  vigor,  and  fires  him  while  in 
his  eye,"  nor  suffers  him  to  mind  his  groves  and  pastures. 
Often  by  her  sweet  allurements  she  even  impels  her  haughty 
lovers  to  combat  with  their  horns.  The  beauteous  heifer 
feeds  in  the  spacious  wood ;  they  by  turns  with  mighty  force 
engage  with  repeated  wounds  ;  black  blood  laves  their  bodies  ; 
and  their  adverse  horns  are  impelled  on  the  straggling  foes 
with  a  vast  groan;  the  woods  and  spacious  skies  rebellow. 
Nor  is  it  usual  for  the  warriors  to  dwell  together ;  but  the  one 
vanquished  retires,  and  becomes  an  exile  in  unknown  distant 
coasts ;  much  and  often  bemoaning  his  disgrace,  and  the 
wounds  of  the  proud  victor,  in  _fine,  the  loves  which  un- 
avenged he  has  lost ;  and,  often  gazing  at  the  stalls,  departs 
from  his  hereditary  realms.  Therefore  with  the  utmost  care 
he  exercises  his  strength,  and  lies  all  night  among  the  hard 
rocks,  on  an  unspread  couch,  feeding  on  prickly  leaves  and 
sharp  rushes ;  he  tries  himself,  and  learns  to  collect  his  rage 
into  his^  horns,  butting  against  the  trunk  of  a  tree ;  dares  the 
winds  with  blows,  and  preludes  to  the  fight  by  spurning  the 
sand.  Afterward,  when  his  strength  is  rallied,  and  his  vigor 

Sl  Literally,  "  by  their  beholding  her."  Anthon  truly  remarks,  that 
it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  gerund  is  used  for  the  passive.  C£ 
"cantando,"  Eel.  viii.  71,  "tegendo,"  Georg.  iii.  454,  "habendo,"  Lu- 
cret  L  313.  B. 


7<j  GEORGICS.  B.  m.  236—271. 

recovered,  he  begins  the  march,"  and  is  borne  headlong  on  his 
unmindful  foe ;  as  a  wave  when  it  begins  to  whiten  in  the 
midst  of  the  sea,  at  distance  and  from  the  deep,  draws  out  its 
bosom,  and  as  rolling  to  the  land  it  roars  dreadful  among  the 
rocks,  nor  less  than  very  mountain  falls ;  while  with  whirlpools 
the  water  from  the  bottom  boils,  and  tosses  up  the  blackening 
sand  on  high. 

Indeed  every  kind  on  earth,  both  of  men  and  wild  beasts, 
the  fish,  the  cattle,  and  painted  birds,  rush  into  maddening 
fires;  love  is  in  all  the  same.  At  no  other  time  does  the 
lioness,  forgetful  of  her  whelps,  range  the  plains  more  fierce  ; 
nor  do  the  unshapely  bears  usually  spread  so  numerous  ravages 
and  such  havoc  in  the  woods :  then  ferocious  is  the  boar,  then 
most  fell  the  tiger.  It  is  then,  alas !  unhappy  wandering  in 
the  desolate  fields  of  Libya.  See  you  not  how  tremor  thrills 
through  the  horse's  whole  body,  if  his  smell  has  but  sucked 
in  the  well-known  gales  ?  And  now  neither  bridles  of  men, 
nor  cruel  whips,  nor  cliffs,  nor  hollow  rocks,  and  opposed  rivers 
that  whirl  with  the  torrent  even  mountains  swept  away,  can 
retard  him.  Even  the  Sabellian  boar  rushes,  and  whets  his 
tusks,  and  with  his  feet  tears  up  the  ground,  rubs  his  flanks 
against  a  tree,  and  on  this  side  and  that  side  hardens  his 
shoulders  to  wounds.  What  does  the  youth,  in  whose  vitals 
relentless  love  fans  the  mighty  fire  ?  Why,  late  in  the  dark- 
some night  he  swims  the  frith  boisterous  with  bursting  stoims; 
over  whom  the  spacious  gate  of  heaven  thunders,  and  the  seas 
dashing  against  the  rocks  remurmur ;  nor  can  his  distressed 
parents  recall  him,  nor  the  maiden  too,  about  to  perish  by  a 
cruel  fete.  What  do  the  spotted  ounces  of  Bacchus,  and  the 
fierce  race  of  wolves  and  dogs  ?  what  the  timorous  stags  ? 
what  dreadful  wars  they  wage  !  Yet  know,  the  fury  of  the 
mares  is  most  of  all  extraordinary :  and  this  spirit  Venus 
herself  inspired,  when  four  Potnian  mares  tore  the  limb  of 
Glaucus"  to  pieces  with  their  jaws.  Love  drives  them  across 
Gargams,  and  roaring  Ascanius  :*4  they  climb  the  mountains, 
swim  the  rivers;  and  forthwith,  when  the  flame  is  secretly 

s*  Literally,  "  strikes  the  tents."    B. 

-33  Glaucus,  a  son  of  Sisyphus,  king  of  Corinth,  who  was  torn  to  pieces 
at  Potnia  in  Breotia,  by  his  own  mares. 

34  Aecanius,  afterward  called  the  Hylas,  a  river  of  Bithynia  in  Asia 
Minor,  flowing  into  the  Propontis  near  Cius. 


B.  m.  272—306.  GEORGUCS.  77 

conveyed  into  their  craving  marrow,  chiefly  in  the  spring  (for 
in  the  spring  the  heat  returns  into  their  bones),  they  all,  with 
their  mouth  turned  toward  the  Zephyr,  stand  on  high  rocks, 
and  catch  the  gentle  gales ;  and  often,  wondrous  to  relate ! 
without  any  mate,  impregnated  by  the  wind,  over  rocks  and 
cliffs  and  hollow  vales  they  scour ;  not  toward  thine,  O  Eurus, 
nor  the  sun's  rising,  nor  toward  Boreas  and  Caurus,"  or 
whence  grim  Auster  arises,  and  saddens  the  sky  with  bleak 
rain.  Hence  at  last,  what  the  shepherds  call  by  its  true 
name,  hippomanes,  a  clammy  poison  distills  from  their  groins  ; 
hippomanes,  which  wicked  stepdames  often  have  gathered, 
and  mixed  [therewith]  herbs,  and  not  innoxious  spells.  But 
time  flies  meanwhile,  flies  irretrievable,  while  we,  enamored 
[of  the  theme],  minutely  trace  particulars. 

Thus  far  of  herds.  Another  part  of  our  care  remains,  to 
manage  the  fleecy  flocks  and  shaggy  goats.  A  labor  this ; 
hence  hope  for  praise,  ye  sturdy  swains.  Nor  am  I  at  all 
ignorant  how  difficult  it  is  to  raise  such  subjects  by  style,  and 
add  this  dignity  to  things  so  low.  But  the  sweet  love  [of  the 
Muses]  transports  me  along  the  lonely  heights  of  Parnassus : 
it  delights  me  to  range  those  mountain-tops,  where  no  path 
trodden  by  the  ancients  winds  down  with  gentle  descent  to 
Castalia."6 

Now,  adorable  Pales,  now  must  I  sing  in  lofty  strain.  To 
begin,  I  appoint  the  sheep  to  be  foddered  in  soft  cots,  till  first 
the  leafy  spring  return :  and  that  the  hard  ground  under 
them  be  strewn  with  plenty  of  straw,  and  with  bundles  of 
ferns,  lest  the  cold  ice  hurt  the  tender  flock,  and  bring  on  the 
scab  and  foul  foot-rot.  Next,  leaving  them,  I  order  to  pro- 
vide the  goats  with  leafy  arbutes,  and  to  supply  them  with 
fresh  streams :  and,  away  from  the  woods,  to  oppose  their  cots 
to  the  winter  sun,  turned  toward  the  -  south :  when  cold 
Aquarius17  now  sets  at  length,  and  in  the  extremity  of  the 
year  sheds  his  dews.  Nor  are  these  to  be  tended  by  us  with 
less  care  :  nor  will  their  usefulness  be  less ;  though  Milesian 

35  Caurus,  the  north-west  wind ;  Auster,  the  south  wind.    ' 

36  Castalia,  a  celebrated  fountain  of  Mount  Parnassus,  sacred  to  the 
Muses. 

37  Aquarius,  one  of  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  rises  in  January,  and,  aa 
its  name  imports,  frequently  accompanied  with  rain.  - 


78  GEORGICS.  B.  ra.  307— 339. 

fleeces,38  that  have  drunk  the  Tyrian  glow,  be  bartered  for  a 
great  price.  From  these  is  a  more  numerous  breed,  from 
these  a  greater  quantity  of  milk.  The  more  the  pail  froths 
with  their  exhausted  udder,  the  more  will  joyous  streams  flow 
from  their  presjsed  dugs.  Meanwhile  [the  shepherds]  also 
shear  the  beards,  and  hoary  chins,  and  long  waving  hair  of 
the  Cinyphian3'  he-goats,  for  the  service  of  the  camp,  and  for 
coverings  to  the  adventurous  mariners.  And  then  they  find 
pasture  from  the  woods,  from  the  summits  of  Lycseus,  from 
the  rough  brambles,  and  from  brakes  that  love  the  craggy 
rocks.  And  mindful,  the  goats  of  themselves  return  home, 
and  bring  their  young  with  them,  and  can  scarcely  get  over 
the  threshold  with  their  teeming  udders.  Therefore,  the  less 
they  lack  the  care  of  mortals,  the  more  careful  must  you  be 
to  defend  them  from  the  ice  and  snowy  winds ;  and  you  must 
cheerfully  bring  them  food,  and  browse  of  tender  twigs  ;  nor 
shut  up  from  them  your  stores  of  hay  during  the  whole 
winter. 

But  when  the  summer,  rejoicing  in  the  inviting  Zephyrs, 
shall  send  forth  both  flocks  into  the  lawns  and  pastures;  at 
the  first  rising  of  Lucifer,  let  us  take  to  the  cool  fields ;  while 
the  morning  is  new,  while  the  grass  is  hoary,  and  the  dew, 
most  grateful  to  the  cattle,  is  on  the  tender  grass.  Then,  as 
soon  as  the  fourth  hour  of  day  has  brought  on  thirst,  and  the 
plaintive  grasshoppers  shall  rend  the  groves  with  their  song ; 
order  the  flocks  to  drink  the  water  running  in  oaken  troughs, 
or  at  the  wells,  or  at  the  deep  pools ;  but  in  the  noontide  heats 
seek  out  a  shady  vale,  wherever  Jove's  stately  oak  with  an- 
cient strength  extends  its  huge  boughs,  or  wherever  a  grove, 
embrowned  with  thick  evergreen  oaks,  projects  its  sacred 
shade.  Then  give  them  once  more  the  translucent  streams, 
and  once  more  feed  them  at  the  setting  of  the  sun,  when  cool 
Vesper  tempers  the  air,  and  now  the  dewy  moon  refreshes  the 
lawns,  and  the  shores  resound  with  Halcyone,  and  the  bushes 
with  the  goldfinch. 

Why  should  I  trace  for  thee  in  song  the  shepherds  and 

33  Milesian  fleeces,  from  Miletus,  a  city  of  Asia  Minor,  the  ancient 
capital  of  Ionia :  it  was  famous  for  its  excellent  wood. 

39  Cinyphian  he-goats,  from  Cinyphus,  a  river  and  country  of  Africa, 
near  Tripolis. 


K  in.  340— 370.  GRORGTCS.  79 

pastures  of  Libya,  and  their  huts  with  few  and  straggling 
roofs  ?  Their  flocks  often  graze  both  day  and  night,  and  for  a 
whole  month  together,  and  repair  into  long  deserts  without 
any  shelter ;  so  wide  the  plain  extends.  The  African  shep- 
herd carries  his  all  with  him,  his  house,  and  household  god, 
his  arms,  his  Amyclean  dog,  and  Cretan  quiver  :40  like  the 
fierce  Roman,  when  armed  for  his  country,  he  takes  his  way 
under  the  unequal  load,  and,  having  pitched  his  camp,  stands 
in  array  of  battle  against  the  foe,  before  he  is  expected. 

But  not  so,  where  are  the  Scythian  nations,  and  the  Maeotic 
waves,41  and  the  turbid  Ister  whirling  his  yellow  sand ;  and 
where  Rhodope  returns,42  stretched  out  itself  under  the  middle 
of  the  pole :  there  they  keep  their  herds  shut  up  in  stalls ; 
nor  are  either  any  herbs  to  be  seen  in  the  fields,  or  leaves  on 
the  trees ;  but  the  country  lies  deformed  with  mounts  of  snow, 
and  deep  ice  all  around,  and  rises  seven  ells  in  height.  It  is 
always  winter,  always  north-west  winds,  blowing  cold.  Then 
the  sun  never  dissipates  the  pale  shades,  either  when  borne  on 
his  steeds  he  climbs  the  lofty  sky,  or  when  he  bathes  his  swift 
chariot  in  the  ocean's  ruddy  plain.  Crusts  of  ice  suddenly 
are  congealed  in  the  running  river :  now  on  its  back  the  wave 
sustains  wheels  bound  with  iron ;  the  wave  hospitable  to  broad 
ships  before,  to  wagons  now.  Vases  of  brass  frequently  burst 
asunder,  their  garments  grow  stiff  when  worn,  they  cut  with 
axes  the  liquid  wine,  whole  pools  turn  to  solid  ice,  and  the 
horrid  icicle  hardens  on  their  uncombed  beards.  Meanwhile 
it  snows  incessantly  through  all  the  air  ;  the  cattle  perish  ;  the 
large  bodies  of  oxen  stand  wrapped  about  with  hoar-frost ;  and 
the  deer,  crowding  all  together,  lie  benumbed  under  the  un- 

40  Cretan  quiver ;   Crete  (Candia),  one  of  the  largest  islands  in  the 
Mediterranean,  at  the  south  of  the  Cyclades.     It  was  anciently  famed  for 
its  hundred  cities,  and  for  the  laws  of  Minos  established  there;  the 
Cretans  were  excellent  archers,  but  infamous  for  falsehood  and  other 
vices.    The  island  was  subdued  by  the  Eomans,  B.  c.  66. 

41  Mceotic  waves,  now  the  Sea  of  Asoph,  a  large  lake,  or  more  properly 
part  of  the  sea  between  Europe  and  Asia,  north  of  the  Euxine,  with 
which  it  communicates  by  the  Cimmerian  Bosphorus. 

42  Hickie  compares  Georg.  ii.  271,  "quae  terga  obverterit  axo,"  with, 
the  following  remark :  "  Rhodope  is  a  chain  of  mountains  in  Thrace,  which 
extends  eastward,  and  is  then  joined  with  Hsemus,  and  parting  from  it, 
returns  northward."     I  need  hardly  remind  the  reader  that  Virgil  is  par- 
tial to  assigning  verbs  of  motion  to  phenomena  which  only  appear  to 
exercise  it.    B. 


80  GEORGICS.  B.  m.  371 — 404. 

usual  load,  and  scarcely  appear  with  the  tips  of  their  horns. 
These  they  pursue  not  with  hounds  let  loose,  nor  with  any 
toils,  nor  scare  them  with  the  terror  of  the  crimson  plume  ;4S 
but  as  in  vain  they  are  shoving  with  their  breasts  the  opposed 
mountain  [of  snow],  they  stab  them  with  the  sword  close  at 
hand,  and  put  them  to  death  piteously  braying,  and  with  loud 
acclamation  bear  them  off  triumphant.  The  inhabitants  them- 
selves, in  caves  dug  deep  under  ground,  enjoy  undisturbed 
rest,  and  roll  to  their  hearths  piled  oaks,  and  whole  elms, 
and  give  them  to  the  flames.  Here  they  spend  the  night  in 
play ;  and  joyous,  imitate  the  juice  of  the  grape  with  their 
beer  and  acid  service.  Such  is  that  savage  race  of  men  lying 
under  the  northern  sign  of  Ursa  Major,  buffeted  by  the 
Ripha?an  east  wind,  and  whose  bodies  are  clothed  with  the 
tawny  furs  of  beasts. 

If  the  woolen  manufacture  be  thy  care ;  first  let  prickly 
woods,  and  burs,  and  caltrops,  be  far  away :  shun  rich  pas- 
tures :  and  from  the  beginning  choose  flocks  that  are  white 
with  soft  wool.  And  that  ram,  though  he  himself  be  of  the 
purest  white,  under  whose  moist  palate  there  lurks  but  a  black 
tongue,  reject,  lest  he  should  sully  the  fleeces  of  the  new-born 
lambs;  and  look  out  for  another  over  the  well-stocked  field. 
Thus  Pan,  the  god  of  Arcadia  (if  the  story  be  worthy  of 
credit),  deceived  thee,  O  moon,  captivated  with  a  snowy  offering 
of  wool,  inviting  thee  into  the  deep  groves :  nor  didst  thou 
scorn  his  invitation. 

But  let  him  who  is  studious  of  milk,  carry  to  the  cribs  with 
his  own  hand  the  cytisus,  and  plenty  of  water-lilies,  and  salt 
herbs.  Hence  [the  animals]  are  both  more  desirous  of  the 
river,  and  distend  their  udders  the  more,  and  in  their  milk 
return  a  faint  savor  of  the  salt. 

Many  restrain  the  kids  as  soon  as  grown  up  from  their 
dams,  and  fasten  muzzles  with  iron  spikes  about  their  snouts. 
What  they  milk  at  the  sun-rising  and  the  hour  of  morn,  they 
press  at  night :  what  they  milk  now  in  the  evening  and  at 
sun-setting,  the  shepherd  at  daybreak  carries  to  town  in  bas- 
kets ;  or  they  season  it  with  a  small  quantity  of  salt,  and  lay 
ft  up  for  winter. 

Nor  let  your  care  of  dogs  be  your  last :  but  feed  at  once  with 

43  On  the  "formido"  here  spoken  of,  see  my  note  on  ^En.  iv.  121.    B. 


B.  m.  405—437.  GEORGICS.  81 

fattening  whey  the  swift  hounds  of  Sparta,44  and  the  fierce 
mastiff  of  Molossis.  While  these  are  your  guards,  you  need 
never  fear  the  nightly  robber  to  your  stalls,  the  incursions  of 
the  wolves,  or  the  restless  Iberians45  coming  upon  you  by 
stealth.  Often  too  in  the  chase  you  will  pursue  the  timorous 
wild  asses,  and  with  hounds  you  will  hunt  the  hare,  with 
hounds  the  hinds.  Often,  driving  on  with  full  cry,  you  will 
give  chase  to  the  boar  roused  from  his  sylvan  soil ;  and  over 
the  lofty  mountains  with  shouts  pursue  the  stately  stag  into 
the  toils. 

Learn  also  to  burn  fragrant  cedar  in  the  folds,  and  to  drive 
away  the  rank  water-snakes  with  the  scent  of  galbanum.  Often 
under  the  mangers,  when  not  moved,  either  the  viper  of  per- 
nicious touch  lies  concealed,  and  affrighted  flies  the  light;  or 
that  snake,  the  direful  pest  of  kine,  which  is  wont  to  shelter  it- 
self under  a  roof  and  shade,  and  shed  its  venom  on  the  cattle, 
keeps  close  to  the  ground.  Snatch  up  stones,  shepherd,  snatch 
up  clubs ;  and  while  he  rears  his  threatening  gorge,  and  swells 
his  hissing  neck,  knock  him  down :  and  now  in  fright  he  has 
deeply  hidden  his  dastardly  head,  while  his  middle-knots  and 
the  wreaths  in  his  tail's  extremity  are  unfolded,  and  his  last 
tortuous  joint  now  drags  its  slow  spires  along.  There  is  also 
that  baneful  snake  in  the  Calabrian  lawns,46  winding  up  his 
scaly  back,  with  breast  erect,  and  a  long  belly  speckled  with 
broad  spots ;  who,  while  any  rivers  burst  from  their  fountains, 
and  while  the  lands  are  moist  with  the  dewy  spring  and  rainy 
south  winds,  haunts  the  pools,  and,  lodging  in  the  banks,  in- 
temperate gorges  his  horrid  maw  with  fishes  and  croaking  frogs. 
When  the  fen  is  burned  up,  and  the  earth  gaps  with  drought, 
he  darts  forth  on  dry  ground,  and  rolling  his  inflamed  eyes, 
rages  in  the  fields,  exasperated  with  thirst,  and  aghast  with 
heat.  Let  me  not  then  choose  to  indulge  soft  slumbers  in  the 
open  air,  or  to  lie  along  the  grass  in  the  slope  of  a  wood,  whenv 

44  Sparta,  called  also  Lacedaemon  (Misitra),  a  famous  city  of  Pelopon- 
nesus in  Greece,  the  capital  of  Laconia,  and  long  the  rival  of  Athens. 
Molossis,  a  district  in  the  south  of  Epirus,  celebrated  for  its  fierce  breed 
of  dogs. 

44  Iberians,  the  Spaniards  were  so  called,  from  Iberus  (the  Ebro),  a 
large  river  of  Spain. 

46  Calabrian  lawns.  Calabria  is  a  country  in  the  south  of  Italy,  an- 
ciently part  of  Magna  Greecia. 

4* 


82  GEORGICS.  B.  m.  438 — 473. 

renewed  and  sleek  with  youth  by  casting  his  slough,  he  rolls 
along  leaving  either  his  young  or  eggs  in  his  den,  reared  to  the 
sunf  and  in  his  mouth  quivers  a  three-forked  tongue. 

I  will  also  teach  thee  the  causes  and  the  signs  of  their  dis- 
eases. The  filthy  scab  infects  the  sheep,  when  the  raw  shower 
hath  pierced  deep  into  the  quick,  and  winter,  rough  with  hoary 
frost;  or,  when  the  sweat  unwashed  away  adheres  to  them 
after  shearing,  and  prickly  briers  have  torn  their  bodies.  On 
this  account,  the  shepherds  drench  .the  whole  flock  in  sweet 
streams,  and  the  ram  with  damp  fleece  is  plunged  into  the  pool, 
and  sent  to  float  along  the  stream ;  or  they  besmear  their  bodies 
after  shearing  with  bitter  lees  of  oil,  and  mix  with  it  litharge 
of  silver,  native  sulphur,  Idaean  pitch,  and  fat  unctuous  wax,  and 
the  sea-leek,  rank  hellebore,  and  black  bitumen.  But  there  is 
not  any  more  effectual  remedy  for  their  sufferings,  than  to  lance 
the  head  of  the  ulcer  with  steel :  the  distemper  is  nourished 
and  lives  by  being  covered ;  while  the  shepherd  refuses  to  ap- 
ply the  healing  hand  to  the  wound,  or  sits  still,  praying  the 
gods  for  better  omens. 

Moreover,  when  the  malady,  penetrating  into  the  inmost 
bones  of  the  bleating  sheep,  rages,  and  the  parching  fever  preys 
upon  their  limbs,  it  has  been  of  use  to  drive  out  the  kindled 
inflammation,  and  between  the  under  parts  of  the  feet  to  open 
a  vein  spouting  with  blood  ;  in  such  manner  as  the  Bisaltae47 
use,  and  the  fierce  Gelonian,  when  he  flies  to  Rhodope,  and  the 
deserts  of  the  Getae,  and  drinks  milk  thickened  with  the  blood 
of  horses. 

Whatever  sheep  thou  seest  either  creep  away  at  a  distance 
from  the  rest,  under  the  mild  shade,  or  listlessly  crop  the  tops 
of  the  grass,  and  follow  in  the  rear,  or  lie  down  as  she  is  feed- 
ing in  the  middle  of  the  plain,  and  return  by  herself  late  in  the 
evening ;  forthwith  check  the  evil  by  the  steel,  before  the  dire 
contagion  spreads  among  the  unwary  flock. 

The  whirlwind,  that  brings  on  a  wintery  storm,  rushes  not 
so  frequent  from  the  sea,  as  the  plagues  of  cattle  are  numerous. 
Nor  do  diseases  only  sweep  away  single  bodies,  but  also  whole 
folds  suddenly,  the  offspring  and  the  flock  at  once,  and  the 

47  Bisaltae,  a  people  of  Macedonia  or  Thrace.  Getae.  a  people  of  Eu- 
ropean Scythia,  inhabiting  that  part  of  Dacia  near  the  mouths  of  thelster 
(Danube). 


B.  m.  4t4— 505.  GEORGICS.  83 

whole  stock  from  the  first  breed.  Whoever  views  the  aerial 
Alps,  and  the  Noric  castles  on  the  hills,  and  the  fields  of  lapi- 
dian  Timavus,  and  the  realms  of  the  shepherds  even  now  after 
so  long  a  time  deserted,  and  the  lawns  lying  waste  far  and 
wide,  may  then  know  this.  Here,  in  former  times,  a  doleful 
sweeping  plague48  arose  from  the  distemper  of  the  air,  and 
grew  more  and  more  inflamed  through  the  whole  heat  of  au- 
tumn ;  and  delivered  over  to  death  all  the  race  of  cattle,  all 
the  savage  race ;  poisoned  .the  lakes,  and  tainted  the  pastures 
with  contagion.  Nor  was  the  way  of  their  death  simple;*9 
but  when  the  burning  fever,  reveling  in  every  vein,  had 
shrunk  up  their  wretched  limbs,  again  the  dropsical  humor 
overflowed,  and  converted  into  its  substance  all  the  bones 
piecemeal  consumed  by  the  disease.  Often  amid  the  service 
of  the  gods,  the  victim  standing  at  the  altar,  while  the  woolen 
wreath  is  entwined  with  snowy  fillet,  has  dropped  down  gasp- 
ing to  death60  in  the  hands  of  the  lingering  ofBciators.  Or,  if 
the  priest  had  stabbed  any  one  before  [it  fell],  neither  do  its 
entrails,  when  laid  on  the  altars,  burn,  nor  is  the  augur,  when 
consulted,  able  thence  to  give  responses ;  and  the  knives  ap- 
plied are  scarcely  tinged  with  blood,  and  the  surface  of  the 
sand  hardly  stained  with  the  meager  gore.  Hence  the  calves 
every  where  expire  in  the  luxuriant  pastures,  and  render  up 
their  sweet  lives  at  the  full  cribs.  Hence  the  fawning  dogs  are 
seized  with  madness ;  and  wheezing  cough  shakes  the  diseased 
swine,  and  suffocates  them  with  tumors  in  the  throat.  The 
unfortunate  horse,  [once]  conqueror,  forgetful  of  his  exercises 
and  his  pasture,  pines  away,  loathes  the  springs,  and  often 
paws  the  ground  with  his  foot ;  his  ears  hang  down ;  an  in- 
termitting sweat  [breaks  out]  about  them,  and  that  too  cold 
at  the  approach  of  death  ;  his  withered  skin  feels  hard,  and 
in  handling  resists  the  touch.  These  symptoms  they  give  be- 
fore death  in  the  first  days.  But  if  in  process  of  time  the 
disease  begins  to  rankle,  then  are  their  eyes  inflamed,  and  the 

48  It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  remind  the  reader  that  Virgil  is  indebted 
to  Thucydides  and  Lucretius  throughout  the  following  description.  B. 

48  Nee  for  et  non :  "  And  various  were  the  forms  of  death."  HICKIE. 
"  Nor  was  the  path  of  death  one  and  the  same."  ANTHON. 

60  "  Moribundus,"  according  to  "Wagner,  has  three  significations  in 
Yirgil:  l.=Moriens,  Georg.  iii.  488.  2.«=Moriturus,  uEn.  iv.  323.  3.— 
Mortalis,  ^En.  vi.  732.  B. 


84  GEORGUCS.  L.  m.  506—544. 

breath  fetched  from  the  bottom  of  the  breast  is  sometimes 
mixed  with  a  heavy  groan ;  and  with  a  long  sob  they  distend 
their  lowest  flanks:  black  blood  gushes  from  their  nostrils, 
and  the  rough  tongue  clings  to  their  choked-up  jaws.  At  first 
it  proved  of  service  to  pour  the  tensean  draught  down  their 
throats;  this  appeared  the  sole  remedy  for  the  dying:  soon 
after,  this  very  thing  proved  their  destruction ;  and  being  re- 
cruited, they  burned  with  furious  rage,  and  they  themselves, 
now  in  the  agonies  of  death  (may  the  gods  award  better  things 
to  the  good,  and  such  frenzy  to  our  foes !)  tore  their  own  man- 
gled limbs  with  their  naked  teeth.  Lo,  the  bull  too,  smoking 
under  the  oppressive  share,  drops  down,  and  vomits  out  of  his 
mouth  blood  mingled  with  foam,  and  fetches  his  last  groans, 
the  plowman,  unyoking  the  steer  that  mourns  his  brother's 
death,  goes  away  sad,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  work  leaves  the 
plow  fixed  in  the  earth.  Neither  the  shades  of  the  deep 
groves,  nor  the  soft  meadows,  can  affect  his  mind,  nor  the 
river  which  rolling  over  the  rocks,  glides  to  the  plain  more 
pure  than  amber :  but  his  deep  sides  grow  lank,  deadness  rests 
upon  his  heavy  eyes,  and  his  neck  with  unwieldy  weight  drops 
to  the  ground.  What  do  their  labors  or  good  offices  now 
avail  them  ?  what  [avails  it]  to  have  turned  the  heavy  lands 
with  the  share  ?  Yet  they  were  never  injured  by  the  rich 
gifts  of  Bacchus,  or  by  banquets  of  many  courses.  They  feed 
on  leaves  and  the  nourishment  of  simple  herbs;  the  crystal 
springs  and  running  rivers  are  their  drink ;  and  no  care  breaks 
their  healthful  slumbers.  At  no  other  time,  they  tell  us  that 
kine  were  wanting  in  those  regions  for  Juno's  sacred  rites,  and 
that  the  chariots  were  drawn  to  their  lofty  shrine  by  wild-bulls 
ill-matched.  Therefore,  with  difficulty  they  tear  the  ground 
with  harrows,  and  with  their  very  nails  set  the  corn,  and  over 
the  high  mountain  drag  the  croaking  wagons  with  their 
strained  necks.  The  wolf  meditates  no  ambuscades  around 
the  folds,  nor  prowls  about  the  flock  by  night ;  a  sharper  care 
subdues  him.  The  timorous  deer  and  fugitive  stags  saunter 
among  the  dogs,  and  about  the  houses.  Now,  too,  the  waves 
wash  out  upon  the  extremity  of  the  shore  the  breed  of  the 
immense  ocean,  and  all  the  race  of  swimmers,  like  shipwrecked 
bodies;  and  the  unwonted  sea-calves  fly  to  the  rivers.  The 
viper,  too,  in  vain  defended  by  her  winding  den,  expires,  and 


B.  m.  545— 5G6.     iv.  1—7.     GEORGICS.  85 

the  astonished  water-snakes,  erecting  their  scales.  To  the  very 
birds  the  air  becomes  pernicious ;  and  falling  headlong,  they 
leave  their  lives  beneath  the  lofty  cloud. 

Nor,  moreover,  avails  it  now  for  their  pasture  to  be  changed ; 
the  arts  to  which  they  had  recourse  prove  noxious :  the  mas- 
ters failed,  Chiron,"  the  son  of  Phillyra,  and  Melampus,  the 
son  of  Amythaon.  Pale  Tisiphone,53  sent  from  the  Stygian 
glooms  to  light,  rages:  drives  before  her  diseases  and  dismay: 
and  daily  rising,  higher  erects  her  baleful  head.  With  bleat- 
ing of  the  flocks,  and  frequent  lowings,  the  rivers,  the  withered 
banks,  and  sloping  hills  resound ;  and  now  by  droves  and 
flocks  she  deals  destruction,  and  in  the  very  stalls  heaps  up 
carcasses  rotting  away  with  foul  contagion,  till  they  learn  to 
bury  them  in  the  ground,  and  hide  them  in  pits.  For  neithei 
was  there  use  for  their  hides,  nor  could  any  cleanse  their  flesh 
with  water,  or  purge  it  by  fire ;  nor  durst  they  so  much  as 
shear  the  fleece  corrupted  with  disease  and  filthy  sores,  or 
touch  the  infected  yarn.  But  yet,  if  any  one  tried  the  odious 
vestments,  fiery  pustules  and  filthy  sweat  overspread  his 
noisome  body ;  and  then,  no  long  time  intervening,  the  sacred 
fire  preyed  upon  his  infected  limbs. 

BOOK  IV. 

The  snbject  of  the  Fourth  Book  is  the  management  of  bees  ;  their  habits, 
economy,  polity,  and  government,  are  described  with  the  utmost  fidelity, 
and  with  all  the  charm  of  poetry.  The  Book  concludes  with  the  beauti- 
ful episode  of  Aristeeus  recovering  his  bees. 

NEXT  will  I  set  forth  the  heavenly  gift  of  aerial  honey. 
Vouchsafe,  Maecenas,  thy  regard  to  this  part  also  of  my  work.1 
I  will  sing  spectacles  to  you  marvelous  of  minute  things  :  the 
magnanimous  leaders,  the  manners  and  employments,  the 
tribes  and  battles  of  the  whole  race  in  order.  My  labor  is 
upon  an  humble  theme,  but  not  mean  the  praise,  if  the  adverse 
deities  permit  one,  and  Apollo  invocated  hear. 

11  Chiron,  one  of  the  Centaurs,  son  of  Saturn  and  Phillyra,  was  famous 
for  hia  skill  in  music,  physic,  and  shooting.  Melampus,  a  celebrated 
soothsayer  and  physician  of  Argos. 

M  Tisiphone,  one  of  the  Furies,  who  was  the  minister  of  Divine  venge- 
ance, and  punished  the  wicked  in  Tartarus. 

••  '  Probably  in  imitation  of  Aratus,  Phsen.  29,  poxdof  ptv  r*  6/Uyof ,  TO 
62  pvpiov  avriic'  dvetap.     B. 


86  GEORGICS.  B.  iv.  8 — 42. 

First,  a  seat  and  station  must  be  sought  for  the  bees,  where 
neither  winds  may  have  access  (for  the  winds  hinder  them 
from  carrying'  home  their  food),  uor  sheep  and  frisky  kids  may 
trample  down  the  flowers,  or  heifer,  straying  in  the  plain,  spurn 
off  the  dews,  and  bruise  the  rising  herbs. 

And  let  the  lizards  with  speckled  scaly  backs  be  far  from 
the  rich  hives,  and  woodpeckers,  and  other  birds;  and  Progne,8 
whose  breast  is  stained  with  her  bloody  hands.  For  they  lay 
all  things  waste  around,  and  in  their  mouths  bear  away  the 
bees  themselves  while  on  the  wing,  a  sweet  morsel  for  their 
merciless  young.  But  let  clear  springs,  and  pools  edged  with 
green  moss,  be  near,  and  a  gentle  rivulet  swiftly  junning 
through  the  meads ;  and  let  a  palm  or  stately  wild  olive  over- 
shade  the  entrance :  that,  when  the  new  kings  lead  forth  the 
first  swarms  in  their  own  spring,  and  the  youth,  issuing  from 
the  hives,  indulge  in  sport,  the  neighboring  bank  may  invite 
them  to  withdraw  from  the  heat,  and  the  tree  just  in  their 
way  may  receive  them  with  its  leafy  shelter.  Into  the  midst 
of  the  water,  whether  it  stagnates  idle  or  purling  runs,  thiow 
willows  across,  and  huge  stones,  that  they  may  rest  upon 
frequent  bridges,  and  spread  their  wings  to  the  summer  sun, 
if  the  impetuous  east  wind  has  by  chance  dispersed  those  that 
lag  behind,  or  immersed  them  in  the  flood.  Around  these 
places  let  green  cassia,  and  far-smelling  wild  thyme,  and 
plenty  of  strong-scented  savory,  flower ;  and  let  beds  of  violet 
drink  an  irrigating3  fountain. 

But  as  for  your  hives  themselves,  whether  they  be  compacted 
of  hollow  bark,  or  woven  with  limber  osier,  let  them  have  their 
inlets  narrow ;  for  winter  congeals  the  honey  with  its  cold, 
and  the  heat  melts  and  dissolves  the  same :  either  force  is 
equally  dreaded  by  the  bees:  nor  is  it  in  vain  that  they  smear 
with  wax*  the  slender  crevices  in  their  houses,  and  fill  up  the 
edges  with  fucus  and  flowers,  and  preserve  for  those  very  uses 
collected  glue,  more  tenacious  than  bird-lime,  or  the  pitch  of 
Phrygian  Ida."  Often,  too,  if  fame  be  true,  they  have 

*  Progne,  the  wife  of  Tereus,  king  of  Thrace,  was  feigned  to  have 
been  changed  into  a  swallow.  See  note  "  on  Eel.  6. 

s  Observe  the  active  force  of  "  irriguos."    B. 

4  i.  e.  propolis.     See  Anthon. 

6  Phrygian  Ida,  a  celebrated  mountain,  or  ridge  of  mountains,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Troy,  covered  with  pine-trees,  etc.,  and  commanding  an  es* 
tensive  view  of  the  Hellespont  and  the  adjacent  countries.  From  Mount 


s.  rv.  43—77.  GEORGICS.  87 

cherished  their  families  in  cells  dug  under  ground,  and  have 
been  found  deep  down  in  hollow  pumice-stones,  and  the  cavity 
of  a  rotten  tree.  But  do  thou,  carefully  cherishing,  daub 
their  chiuky  chambers  round  with  smooth  mud,  and  strew  it 
thinly  over  with'  leaves ;  and  suffer  not  a  yew  near  their 
lodges,  nor  burn  in  the  fire  the  reddening  crabs,  nor  trust 
them  to  a  deep  fen,  or  where  there  is  a  noisome  smell  of  mire, 
or  where  the  hollow  rocks  resound  on  being  struck,  and  the 
struck  image  of  the  voice  rebounds. 

For  what  remains,  when  the  golden  sun  has  driven  the 
winter  under  ground,  and  opened  the  heavens  with  summer 
light ;  they  forthwith  traverse  the  lawns  and  woods,  crop  the 
bright-hued  flowers,  and  lightly  skim  the  surface  of  the  streams. 
Hence,  gladdened  with  I  know  not  what  agreeable  sensation, 
they  grow  fond  of  their  offspring  and  young  breed :  hence 
they  labor  out  with  art  new  waxen  cells,  and  form  the 
clammy  honey.  After  this,  when  now  you  see  the  swarm, 
after  emerging  from  the  hives  into  the  open  air,  swim  through 
the  serene  summer  sky,  and  marvel  at  the  blackening  cloud 
driven  about  by  the  wind,  mark  well :  they  always  seek  the 
waters  and  leafy  coverts :  here  sprinkle  the  juices  prescribed, 
bruised  balm  and  the  common  herb  of  honey-wort :  awake  the 
tinkling  sounds,  and  beat  around  the  cymbals  of  the  mother.' 
They  of  themselves  will  settle  on  the  medicated  seats ;  they 
of  themselves,  after  their  manner,  will  retreat  into  the  in- 
most cells. 

But  if  they  should  go  forth  to  battle  (for  often  discord  with 
huge  commotion  seizes  two  kings),  you  may  straightway 
know  long  beforehand  both  the  animosity  of  the  populace, 
and  their  hearts  in  trepidation  for  war :  for  that  martial  clang 
of  hoarse  brass  rouses  the  loiterers,  and  a  voice  is  heard  re- 
sembling the  broken  sounds  of  trumpets.  Then  in  a  hurry 
they  assemble,  quiver  with  their  wings,  sharpen  their  stings 
upon  their  beaks,  prepare  their  sinews,  crowd  thick  around 
their  king  and  to  his  pavilion,  and  with  loud  hummings  chal- 
lenge the  foe. 

As  soon,  therefore,  as  they  find  the  spring  serene,  and  the 

Ida  issued  the  Simois,  Scamander,  and  other  rivers,  and  here  it  was  that 
Paris  adjudged  the  prize  of  beauty  to  the  goddess  Venus. 

6  Cybele,  called  the  Mother  of  the  Gods,  was  the  daughter  of  Coalus 
and  Terra,  and  wife  of  Saturn.  DAVIDSON. 


88  GEORGICS,  B.  iv.  78—113. 

fields  of  air  open,  forth  they  rush  from  their  gates ;  they  join 
battle :  buzzing  sounds  arise  in  the  sky  aloft :  mingled  they 
cluster  in  a  mighty  round,  and  fall  headlong :  hail  rains  not 
thicker  from  the  air,  nor  such  quantities  of  acorns  from  the 
shaken  oak.  The  kings  themselves  amid  the  hosts,  distin- 
guished by  their  wings,  exert  mighty  souls  in  little  bodies ; 
obstinately  determined  not  to  yield  till  the  dread  victor  has 
compelled  either  these  or  those  to  turn  their  backs  in  flight. 
These  commotions  of  their  minds,  and  this  so  mighty  fray, 
checked  by  the  throw  of  a  little  dust,  will  cease. 

But  when  you  have  recalled  both  leaders  from  the  battle, 
put  him  to  death  that  appears  the  worse,  lest  by  prodigality 
he  do  hurt ;  and  suffer  the  braver  to  reign  in  the  court  with- 
out a  rival.  The  one  will  glow  with  refulgent  spots  of  gold ; 
for  there  are  two  sorts :  this  is  the  better,  distinguishable  both 
by  his  make,  and  conspicuous  with  glittering  scales:  the 
other  is  horribly  deformed  with  sloth,  and  ingloriously  drags 
a  large  belly. 

As  the  kings  are  of  two  figures,  so  are  the  bodies  of  their 
people.7  For  the  one  looks  hideously  ugly;  as  when  a 
parched  traveler  comes  from  a  very  dusty  road,  and  spits  the 
dirt  out  of  his  dry  mouth  :  the  others  shine  and  sparkle  with 
brightness,  glittering  with  gold,  and  their  bodies  spangled 
with  equal  drops.  This  is  the  better  breed :  from  these  at 
stated  season  of  the  sky  you  will  press  the  luscious  honey ; 
yet  not  so  luscious  as  pure,  and  fit  to  correct  the  hard  relish 
of  the  grape. 

But  when  the  roving  swarms  fly  about  and  sport  in  the  air, 
disdain  their  hives,  and  leave  the  cold  habitations,  you  will* 
restrain  their  unsettled  minds  from  their  vain  play.  Nor  is 
there  great  difficulty  in  restraining  them  :  do  you  but  clip  the 
wings  of  their  kings ;  not  one  will  dare,  while  they  stay  be- 
hind, to  fly  aloft,  or  pluck  up  the  standard  from  the  camp. 

Let  gardens  fragrant  with  saffron  flowers  invite  them;  and 
the  protection  of  Hellespontaic  Priapus,  the  averter  of  thieves 
and  birds,  with  his  willow  scythe  preserve  them.  Let  him 
who  makes  such  things  his  care,  himself  bring  thyme  and 
pines  from  the  high  mountains,  to  plant  them  far  and  wide 

7  This,  like  many  other  of  Virgil's  statements  respecting  bees,  is  er- 
roneous. The  reader  will  find  much  information  in  Anthon's  entertain- 
ing notes.  B. 


B.  rr.  114—146.  GEORGICS.  89 

about  their  hives  :  let  him  wear  his  hands  with  the  hard  labor, 
set  himself  the  fruitful  plants  in  the  ground,  and  water  them 
with  kindly  showers. 

And  indeed,  were  I  not  just  furling  my 'sails  at  the  last  pe- 
riod of  my  labors,  and  hastening  to  turn  my  prow  to  land,  per- 
haps I  might  both  sing  what  method  of  culture  would  adorn 
rich  gardens,  and  the  rose-beds  of  twice-blooming  Pastum  ;8 
and  how  endive  and  banks  green  with  parsley  delight  in  drink- 
ing the  rills ;  and  how  the  cucumber  winding  along  the  grass 
swells  into  a  belly  :  nor  had  I  passed  in  silence  the  late-flower- 
ing daffodil,  or  the  stalks  of  the  flexile  acanthus,  or  the  pale 
ivy,  and  the  myrtles  that  love  the  shores.  For  I  remember 
that,  under  the  lofty  turrets  of  (Ebalia,9  where  black  Galsesus 10 
moistens  the  yellow  fields,  I  saw  an  old  Corycian,11  to  whom 
belonged  a  few  acres  of  neglected  land  ;  nor  was  that  soil  rich 
enough  for  the  plow,  proper  for  flocks,  or  commodious  for  vines. 
Yet  here  among  the  bushes,  planting  a  few  pot-herbs,  white 
lilies,  vervain,  and  esculent  poppies  all  around,  he  equaled  in. 
disposition  the  wealth  of  kings ;  and  returning  late  at  night, 
loaded  his  board  with  unbought  dainties.  He  was  the  first  to 
gather  the  rose  in  spring,  and  fruits  in  autumn :  and,  even  when 
sad  winter  split  the  rocks  with  cold,  and  bridled  up  the  current 
of  the  rivers  with  ice,  in  that  very  season  he  was  cropping  the 
locks  of  the  soft  acanthus,  chiding  the  late  summer,  and  the 
lingering  zephyrs. 

He,  therefore,  was  the  first  to  abound  with  pregnant  bees 
and  numerous  swarms,  and  to  strain  the  frothing  honey  from 
the  pressed  combs ;  he  had  limes  and  pines  in  great  abund- 
ance ;  and  as  many  fruits  as  the  fertile  tree  had  been  clothed 
with  in  early  blossoms,  so  many  it  retained  ripe  in  autumn. 
He  too  transplanted  into  rows  the  late  [far-grown]  elms,  and 
hard  pear-trees,  and  sloe-trees  now  bearing  damascenes,  and 
the  plane  now  ministering  shade  to  drinkers.  But  these  I  for 

8  Passtum  (Pesto),  a  town  of  Lucania,  on  the  Gulf  of  Salerno,  where 
the  roses  blossom  twice  a  year. 

»  (Ebalia,  Tarentum,  in  the  south  of  Italy,  was  so  called  because  built 
by  a  colony  under  Phalanthus.  who  came  from  (Ebalia,  or  Laconia,  in 
Greece.  Galaesus,  a  river  of  Calabria,  flowing  into  the  Bay  of  Tarentum. 

1U  Cf.  "umbrosus  Galsesus,"  Propert.  ii.  25,  67.     B. 

11  Corycius,  a  contented  old  man  of  Tarentum,  whose  time  was  em- 
ployed in  taking  care  of  his  bees.  Some  suppose  that  by  Corycius,  Virgil 
meant  a  native  of  Corycus  (a  town  of  Cilicia),  who  had  settled  in  Italy, 


90  GEORGICS.  B.  iv.  147—177. 

my  part  pass  over,  restrained  by  the  narrow  bounds  I  have  pre- 
scribed to  myself,  and  leave  to  others  hereafter  to  record. 

Come,  now,  I  will  unfold  the  qualities  which  Jupiter  himself 
has  implanted  in  the  bees;  for  which  reward  accompanying  the 
shrill  sounds  and  tinkling  brass  of  the  Curetes,"  they  fed  the 
king  of  heaven  under  the  Dictsean  cave.  They  alone  have 
their  offspring  in  common,  share  the  building  of  a  city  in  com- 
mon, and  pass  their  lives  under  powerful  laws ;  and  they  alone 
have  a  country  of  their  own,  and  a  fixed  abode.  And,  mindful 
of  the  coming  winter,  they  experience  toil  in  summer,  and  lay 
up  their  acquisitions  into  the  common  stock.  For  some  are 
provident  for  food,  and  by  fixed  compact  are  employed  in  the 
fields  ;  some  within  the  inclosure  of  their  hives  lay  Narcissus"* 
tears,  and  clammy  gum  from  the  bark  of  trees,  for  the  first 
foundation  of  the  combs,  then  build  downward  the  viscid  wax  ; 
others  bring  up  to  their  full  growth  the  young,  the  hope  of  the 
nation ;  others  condense  the  purest  honey,  and  distend  the 
shells  with  liquid  nectar.  Some  there  are  to  whose  lot  has 
fallen  the  watching  of  the  gates,  and  these  by  turns  observe  the 
waters  and  clouds  of  heaven ;  or  receive  the  loads  of  those  who 
return  ;  or,  forming  a  band,  drive  from  the  hives  the  drones,  a 
sluggish  horde.  The  work  is  warmly  plied,  and  the  honey 
smells  fragrant  of  thyme. 

And  as  when  the  Cyclops  urge  on  the  thunderbolts  from 
the  stubborn  masses,  some  receive  and  render  back  the  air  in 
the  bull-hide  bellows ;  some  dip  the  sputtering  brass  in  the 
trough  :  ./Etna  groans  under  the  weight  of  their  anvils  :  they 
alternately  with  vast  force  lift  their  arms  in  time,  and  turn 
the  iron  with  the  griping  pincers.  Just  so,  if  we  may  compare 
small  things  with  great,  the  innate  love  of  gain  prompts  the 
Cecropian  bees,14  each  in  his  proper  function.  The  elder  have 

12  Cnretes,  or  Corybantes,  the  priests  of  Cybeje,  who  inhabited  Mount 
Ida  in  Crete  ;  they  were  intrusted  with  the  education  of  the  infant  Jupi- 
ter, and  to  prevent  his  being  discovered  by  his  father,  who  sought  to  de- 
stroy him,  they  invented  a  kind  of  dance,  and  drowned  his  cries  by  the 
noise  of  their  cymbals. 

13  Narcissus,  a  beautiful  youth,  who,  on  seeing  his  image  reflected  in 
a  fountain,  became  enamored  of  it,  thinking  it  to  be  the  nymph  of  the 
place.     He  died  of  grief,  and  was  changed  into  a  flower,  which  still  bears 
his  name.     - 

14  Cecropian  bees,  that  is,  Attic  or  Athenian  bees,  from  Cecrops,  the 
founder  and  first  king  of  Athens. 


B.  IT.  178—212.  GEORGICS.  91 

the  care  of  their  towns,  and  to  fortify  the  combs,  and  frame 
the  artificial  cells.  But  the  younger  return  fatigued  late  at 
night,  their  thighs  laden  with  thyme ;  they  feed  at  large  on 
arbutes,  and  gray  willows,  on  cassia,  and  glowing  crocus,  on 
the  gummy  lime,  and  deep-colored  hyacinths.  All  have  one 
rest  from  work,  all  one  common  labor.  In  the  morning  they 
rush  out  of  the  gates  without  any  delay.  Again,  when  the 
evening  at  length  has  warned  them  to  return  from  feeding  in 
the  fields,  then  they  seek  their  habitations,  and  then  refresh 
their  bodies  :  the  hum  arises,  and  they  buzz  about  the  borders 
and  entrance  of  their  hives.  Soon  after,  when  they  have  com- 
posed themselves  in  their  cells,  ah1  is  hushed  for  the  night ; 
and  their  proper  sleep  seizes  their  weary  limbs.  Nor  do  they 
remove  to  a  great  distance  from  their  hive  when  rain  im- 
pends, or  trust  the  sky  when  east  -  winds  approach;  but  in 
safety  supply  themselves  with  water  all  around  under  the  walls 
of  their  city,  and  attempt  but  short  excursions ;  and  often  take 
up  little  stones,  as  unsteady  vessels  do  ballast  in  a  tossing 
sea;  with  these  they  poise  themselves  through  void  airy  re- 
gions. 

Chiefly  you  will  marvel  at  this  custom  peculiar  to  the  bees, 
that  they  neither  indulge  in  conjugal  embrace,  nor  softly  dis- 
solve their  bodies  in  the  joys  of  love,  nor  bring  forth  young 
with  a  mother's  throes.  But  they  themselves  cull  their  progeny 
with  their  mouths  from  leaves  and  fragrant  herbs ;  they  them- 
selves raise  up  a  new  king  and  little  subjects,  and  build  new 
palaces  and  waxen  realms. 

Often,  too,  in  wandering  among  the  flinty  rocks,  have  they 
torn  their  wings,  and  voluntarily  yielded  up  their  lives  under 
their  burden :  so  mighty  is  their  love  for  flowers,  and  such  their 
glory  in  making  honey.  Therefore,  though  a  narrow  term  of 
life  is  their  lot  (for  it  is  not  prolonged  beyond  the  seventh  sum- 
mer), yet  the  race  remains  immortal,  and  through  many  years 
the  fortune  of  the  family  subsists,  and  grandsires  of  grandsires 
are  numbered. 

Besides,  not  Egypt's  self,  nor  great  Lydia,15  nor  the  nation 
of  the  Parthians,  nor  Median  Hydaspes,  are  so  observant  of 
their  king.  While  the  king  is  safe,  there  is  one  mind  among 

15  Lydia,  a  country  of  Asia  Minor,  south  of  Mysia,  now  part  of  Ana- 
tolia, Hydaspes,  a  river  of  Persia,  supposed  to  be  the  Choaspes,  or  the 
Araxes. 


92  GEORGICS.  B.  rv.  213—245. 

all :  when  he  is  dead,  they  sever  their  allegiance ;  they  them- 
selves tear  to  pieces  the  fabric  of  their  honey,  and  demolish  the 
structure  of  their  combs.  He  is  the  guardian  of  their  works : 
him  they  admire,  and  all  encircle  him  with  thick  humming, 
and  guard  him  in  a  numerous  body  ;  often  they  lift  him  up  on 
their  shoulders,  expose  their  bodies  in  war,  and  through  wounds 
seek  a  glorious  death. 

From  these  appearances,  and  led  by  these  examples,  some 
have  alleged  that  a  portion  of  the  divine  mind,  and  a  heavenly 
emanation,  may  be  discovered  in  bees  ;  for  that  the  Deity  per- 
vades the  whole  earth,  the  tracts  of  sea,  and  depth  of  heaven ; 
that  hence  the  flocks,  the  herds,  men,  and  all  the  race  of  beasts, 
each  at  its  birth,  derive  their  slender  lives.  Accordingly  [they 
affirm],  that  all  of  them,  when  dissolved,  return  and  are  brought 
back  thither  hereafter ;  nor  is  there  any  room  for  death  ;  but 
that  they  mount  up  alive  each  into  his  proper  order  of  star,  and 
take  their  seat  in  the  high  heaven. 

When  you  intend  to  rifle  the  narrow  mansions  [of  the  bees], 
and  their  honey  preserved  in  their  treasures,  first,  sprinkled 
[as  to  your  body],18  gargle  your  mouth  with  a  draught  of 
water,  and  bear  in  your  hand  before  you  the  searching  smoke. 
Twice  they  press  the  teeming  cells ;  there  are  two  seasons  of 
that  harvest ;  one,  as  soon  as  the  Pleiad  Taygete17  has  displayed 
her  comely  face  to  the  earth,  and  spurns  with  her  foot  the  de- 
spised waters  of  the  ocean ;  or  when  the  same  star,  flying  the 
constellation  of  the  watery  Fish,  descends  in  sadness  from  the 
sky  into  the  wintery  waves.  They  are  Avrathful  above  measure, 
and  when  provoked,  breathe  venom  into  their  stings,  and  leave 
their  hidden  darts  fixed  in  the  veins,  and  lay  down  their  lives 
in  the  wound. 

ilf,  however,  fearing18  a  hard  winter,  you  both  be  sparing 
for  the  future,  and  have  pity  on  their  drooping  spirits  and 
shattered  state  ;  yet  who  will  hesitate  to  fumigate  [their  hives] 
with  thyme,  and  cut  away  the  empty  wax  ?  for  often  the 
lizard  preys  unseen  upon  the  combs,  and  the  cells  are  stuffed 
with  cockroaches  that  shun  the  light ;  the  drone  also  that  sit* 
exempt  from  duty  at  another's  repast,  or  the  fierce  hornet  has 

16  See  Anthon's  note.     C. 

"  Taygete,  a  daughter  of  Atlas  and  Pleione,  who  became  one  of  tha 
Pleiades  after  death. 

18  The  older  editions  read  "  metues."    B. 


B.  iv.  245—282.  GEORGICS.  93 

engaged  them  with  unequal  arms ;  or  the  moth's  direful 
breed ;  or  the  spider,  hateful  to  Minerva,  has  suspended  her 
loose  nets  in  their  gates. 

The  more  they  are  exhausted,  the  more  vigorously  will 
they  all  labor  to  repair  the  ruins  of  their  decayed  race,  to  fill 
up  the  rows  of  cells,  and  weave  their  magazines  of  flowers. 
But  since  life  has  on  bees  too  entailed  our  misfortunes,  if 
their  bodies  shall  languish  with  a  sore  disease,  which  you  may 
know  by  undoubted  signs ;  immediately  the  sick  change 
color ;  horrid  leanness  deforms  the  countenance ;  then  they 
carry  the  bodies  of  the  dead  out  of  their  houses,  and  lead  the 
mournful  funeral  processions  ;  or  clinging  together  by  the  feet, 
hang  about  the  entrance,  and  loiter  all  within  their  houses 
shut  up,  both  listless  through  famine,  and  benumbed  with 
contracted  cold.  Then  a  hoarser  sound  is  heard,  and  in 
drawling  hums,  they  buzz ;  as  at  times  the  south  wind  mur- 
murs through  the  woods;  as  the  ruffled  sea  creaks  hoarsely 
with  refluent  waves ;  as  rapid  fire  in  the  pent  furnace  roars. 
In  this  case  now  I  would  advise  to  burn  gummy  odors,  and 
to  put  in  honey  through  pipes  of  reed,  kindly  tempting  and 
inviting  the  enfeebled  bees  to  their  known  repast.  It  will  be 
of  service  also  to  mix  with  it  the  juice  of  pounded  galls,  and 
dried  roses,  or  inspissated  must19  thickened  over  a  strong  fire, 
or  raisins  from  the  Psythian  vine,  Cecropian  thyme,  and 
strong-smelling  centaury.  There  is  also  in  the  meadows  a 
flower,  to  which  the  husbandmen  have  given  the  name  of 
amellus ;  an  herb  easy  to  be  found ;  for  from  one  root  it 
shoots  a  vast  luxuriance  of  stalks,  itself  of  golden  hue  ;  but  on 
the  leaves,  Avhich  are  spread  thickly  around,  the  purple  of  the 
dark  violet  sheds  a  gloss.  The  altars  of  the  gods  are  often 
decked  with  plaited  wreaths  [of  this  flower].  Its  taste  is 
bitterish  in  the  mouth;  the  shepherds  gather  it  in  new-shorn 
valleys,  and  near  the  winding  streams  of  Mella.20  Boil  the 
roots  thereof  in  fragrant  wine ;  and  present  it  as  food  [for  the 
bees]  in  full  baskets  at  their  door. 

But  if  the  whole  stock  should  suddenly  fail  any  one,  and 
he  should  have  no  means  to  recover  a  new  breed ;  it  is  time 

19  "  When  must  was  inspissated  to  one  half,  it  acquired  the  name  of 
defrultm."    ANTHON. 

20  Mella,  a  small  river  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  falling  into  the  Ollius,  and 
with  it  into  the  Po. 


94  GEORGICS.  R  rv.  283—317. 

both  to  unfold  the  memorable  invention  of  the  Arcadian  mas- 
ter, and  how  the  tainted  gore  of  bullocks  slain  has  often  pro- 
duced bees  :  I  will  disclose  the  whole  tradition,  tracing  it  high 
from  its  first  source.  For  where  the  happy  nation  of  Pellaean 
Canopus21  inhabit  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  floating  [the  plains] 
with  his  overflowing  river,  and  sail  around  their  fields  in 
painted  gondolas ;  and  where  the  river,  that  rolls  down  as  far 
as  from  the  swarthy  Indians,  presses  on  the  borders  of  quivered 
Persia,  and  fertiles  verdant  Egypt  with  black  silt,  and  pouring 
along  divides  itself  into  seven  different  mouths ;  all  the  coun- 
try grounds  infallible  relief  on  this  art.  First  a  space  of 
ground  of  small  dimensions,  and  contracted  for  this  purpose, 
is  chosen ;  this  they  strengthen  with  the  tiling  of  a  narrow 
roof  and  confined  walls ;  and  add  four  windows  of  slanting 
light  in  the  direction  of  the  four  winds.  Then  a  bullock,  just 
bending  the  horns  in  his  forehead,  two  years  old,  is  sought  out : 
while  he  struggles  exceedingly,  they  close  up  both  his  nostrils, 
and  the  breath  of  his  mouth ;  and  when  they  have  beaten  him 
to  death,  his  battered  entrails  are  crushed  within  the  hide  that 
remains  entire.  When  dead,  they  leave  him  pent  up,  and  lay 
under  his  sides  fragments  of  boughs,  thyme,  and  fresh  cassia. 
This  is  done  when  first  the  zephyrs  stir  the  waves,  before  the 
meadows  blush  with  new  colors,  before  the  chattering  swal- 
low suspend  her  nest  upon  the  rafters.  Meanwhile  the  juices, 
warmed  in  the  tender  veins,  ferment :  and  animals,  wonderful 
to  behold,  first  short  of  their  feet,  and  in  a  little  while  buzzing 
with  wings,  swarm  together,  and  more  and  more  take  to  the 
thin  air  :  till  they  burst  away  like  a  shower  poured  down  from 
summer  clouds;  or  like  an  arrow  from  the  whizzing  string, 
when  the  swift  Parthians  first  begin  the  fight. 

What  god,  ye  Muses,  what  god  disclosed  to  us  this  art? 
whence  took  this  new  experience  of  men  its  rise  ? 

The    shepherd   Aristaeus,1J   flying   from    Peneian    Tempe," 

21  Canopus  (near  Aboukir),  a  city  of  Egypt,  12  miles  east  from  Alex- 
andria.   It  is  here  called  Pellaean,  having  been  founded  by  a  colony  from 
Pella,  a  city  of  Macedonia,  or  in  allusion  to  the  conquest  of  the  country 
by  Alexander  the  Great,  who  was  born  at  Pella. 

22  Aristaeus  was  the  son  of  Apollo  and  Gyrene.     He  became  enamored 
of  Eurydice,  the  wife  of  Orpheus,  and  was  the  first  who  taught  mankind 
the  culture  of  Olives,  and  the  management  of  bees ;  after  death  he  was 
worshiped  as  a  god. 

83  Peneian  Tempe,  a  celebrated  vale  in  Thessaly,  between  Mount  Olym- 


B.  IT.  318—350.  GEORGICS.  95 

having  lost  his  bees,  as  it  is  said,  by  disease  and  famine,  stood 
mournful  by  the  sacred  source  of  the  rising  river,  much  and 
oft  complaining  :  and  with  these  accents  addressed  his  parent : 
Mother  Gyrene,  mother,  who  inhabitest  the  depth  of  this 
flood,  why  hast  thou  brought  me  forth  of  the  illustrious  race 
of  gods  (if  indeed,  as  you  pretend,  Thymbrgean  Apollo  be  my 
sire),  thus  abhorred  by  destiny  ?  or  whither  is  thy  love  for  me 
banished  ?  why  didst  thou  bid  me  hope  for  heaven  ?  Lo,  I, 
though  thou  art  my  mother,  am  even  bereft  of  this  very  glory 
of  my  mortal  life,  which,  amid  my  watchful  care  of  flocks 
and  agriculture,  I,  after  infinite  essays,  with  much  difficulty 
achieved.  Why  then,  go  on ;  root  up  with  thine  own  hands 
my  happy  groves ;  bear  the  hostile  flame  into  my  stalls,  and 
kill  my  harvests;  burn  up  my  plantations,  and  wield  the 
sturdy  bill  against  my  vineyards ;  if  such  strong  aversion  to 
my  praise  hath  seized  thee. 

But  his  mother  heard  the  sound  beneath  the  chambers  of 
the  deep  river  ;  her  nymphs  around  her  were  carding  the  Mile- 
sian fleeces,  dyed  with  rich  glass-green  tincture  ;  Drymo"  and 
Xantho,  Ligea  and  Phyllodoce,  their  comely  hair  flowing  down 
their  snow-white  necks ;  Nescsee  and  Spio,  Thalia  and  Cy- 
modoce,  Cydippe  and  golden  Lycorias ;  the  one  a  virgin,  the 
other  just  experienced  in  the  first  labors  of  Lucina ;  Clio, 
and  her  sister  Beroe,  both  daughters  of  Oceanus,  both  in  gold, 
both  in  spotted  skins  arrayed ;  Ephyre  and  Opis,  and  Asian 
Deiopeia ;  and  swift  Arethusa,  having  at  length  laid  her  darts 
aside  :  among  whom  Clymene  was  relating  Vulcan's  unavail- 
ing care,  the  tricks  and  pleasant  thefts  of  Mars,  and  recounted 
the  frequent  amours  of  the  gods  down  from  Chaos.  While 
the  nymphs,  charmed  with  this  song,  wind  off  their  soft  task 
from  the  spindles,  the  lamentations  of  Aristseus  again  struck 
his  mother's  ears,  and  all  were  amazed  in  their  crystal  beds  : 

pus  and  Ossa,  through  which  the  river  Peneus  flows  into  the  JEgean. 
Tempe  was  about  five  miles  in  length,  but  very  narrow,  in  few  places 
above  a  quarter  of  a  mile  broad.  The  ancient  poets  have  described  it  as 
one  of  the  most  delightful  spots  in  the  world :  hence  all  valleys  that  are 
pleasant  are  by  the  poets  called  Tempe.  Thymbra,  a  plain  in  Troas, 
through  which  the  river  Thymbrius  flowed  in  its  course  to  the  Scaman- 
dcr.  Apollo  had  there  a  temple,  and  thence  it  is  called  Thymbrsean. 

24  Drymo,  etc.  These  were  sea-nymphs,  the  attendants  of  Gyrene, 
daughter  of  the  river  Peneus,  who  was  carried  by  Apollo  to  that  part 
of  Africa  which  was  called  Cyrenaica,  where  she  became  the  mother  of 
Aristaeua. 


96  GEORGICS.  B.  IT.  351—378. 

but  Arethusa  upreared  her  golden  head  before  her  other  sis- 
ters, darting  her  eyes  abroad ;  and  afar  [she  cried],  O  sister 
Gyrene,  not  in  vain  alarmed  with  such  piteous  moaning,  thy 
own  Aristaeus,  overwhelmed  with  sorrow,  thy  darling  care, 
stands  weeping  by  the  water  of  Peneus  thy  sire,  and  calls  thee 
cruel  by  name.  To  her  the  mother,  her  soul  seized  with  un- 
usual concern,  cries,  Conduct,  conduct  him  quickly  to  us ; 
to  him  it  is  permitted  to  tread  the  courts  of  the  gods.  At 
the  same  time  she  commands  the  deep  floods  to  divide  on  all 
sides,  that  the  youth  might  make  his  approach.  And  the 
water,  bent  into  the  shape  of  a  mountain,  stood  round  about 
him,  received  him  into  its  ample  bosom,  and  let  him  pass  un- 
der the  river.  And  now  admiring  his  mother's  palace,  and 
humid  realms,  the  lakes  pent  up  in  caverns,  and  the  sounding 
groves,  he  passed  along,  and  amazed  at  the  vast  motion  of  the 
waters,  surveyed  all  the  rivers  gliding  under  the  great  earth  in 
different  places ;  Phasis"  and  Lycus,  and  the  source  whence 
deep  Enipeus  first  bursts  forth,  whence  father  Tiberinus,™ 
and  whence  AnioV  streams,  and  Hypanis"  roaring  down 
the  rocks,  and  Mysian  Caicus,  and  Eridanus,  his  bull-front 
decked  with  two  gilt  horns,  than  whom  no  river  pours  along 
the  fertile  fields  with  greater  violence  into  the  dark,  troubled" 
sea. 

After  he  had  arrived  under  the  roof  of  her  bed-chamber, 
hung  with  pumice-stones,  Gyrene  was  informed  of  the  vain  la- 
mentations of  her  son ;  the  sisters  in  order  serve  up  the  crystal 
streams  for  the  hands,  and  bring  smooth  towels.  Some  load 
the  board  with  viands  anl  plant  the  full  cups.  The  altars 

25  Phasis  (Phaz  or  Rhion),  a  river  of  Colchis,  rising  in  Mount  Cauca- 
sus, and  falling  into  the  Euxine.  Lycus,  a  river  of  Armenia.  Enipeus, 
a  river  of  Theesaly,  falling  into  the  Peneus. 

86  Tiber,  a  celebrated  river  of  Italy,  on  whose  banks  the  city  of  Rome 
was  built.     It  was  originally  called  Albula,  from  the  whiteness  of  its 
waters,  and  afterward  Tiber,  from  Tiburinus,  king  of  Alba,  who  was 
drowned  in  it     The  Tiber  rises  in  the  Apennines,  and  after  dividing  La- 
tium  from  Etruria,  falls  into  the  Mediterranean  16  miles  below  Rome. 

87  Anio  (Teverone),  a  river  of  Italy  which  falls  into  the  Tiber. 

"  Hypania  (Bog),  a  river  of  European  Scythia,  which  runs  into  the 
Euxine.  Caicus  (Grimakli),  a  river  of  Mysia,  falling  into  the  ^Egean. 

29  Compare  Anthon,  who  observes,  "  We  have  preferred  rendering 
purpureum  here  by  a  double  epithet.     It  is  analogous  to  the  Greek  jro 
tf'peof,  as  said  of  the  troubled  sea,  whence  fiiof  iropfvpoiif 
"  a  seaman's  troublous  life*" 


B.  iv.  379—413.  GEOEGICS.  97 

blaze  with  Panchasan  fires.  Then  the  mother  thus  speaks : 
Take  bowls  of  Maeonian  wine,  let  us  offer  a  libation  to  Ocean. 
At  the  same  time  she  herself  addresses  Ocean,  the  parent  of 
things,  and  the  sister  nymphs,  a  hundred  of  whom  preside  over 
woods,  a  hundred  over  rivers.  Thrice  she  sprinkled  glowing 
Vesta  with  the  liquid  nectar :  thrice  the  flame,  mounting  to 
the  top  of  the  roof,  brightened :  with  which  omen  encouraging 
her  soul,  she  thus  begins :  In  Neptune's  Carpathian  gulf  there 
dwells  a  seer,  coernlean  Proteus,30  who  measures  the  great  sea 
with  fishes,  and  in  a  chariot  yoked  with  two-legged  steeds. 
He  now  revisits  the  ports  of  Emathia  and  his  native  Pal- 
lene  :31  him  both  we  nymphs,  and  old  Nereus34  himself  adore  ; 
for  the  prophet  knows  all  things  that  are,  that  have  been,  and 
what  is  being  drawn  on  as  about  to  be.  For  such  is  the  will 
of  Neptune ;  whose  unwieldy  droves,  and  ugly  sea-calves,  he 
feeds  under  the  deep.  He,  my  son,  must  first  be  surprised 
with  chains,  that  he  may  explain  to  you  the  whole  cause  of 
the  disease,  and  make  the  issue  prosperous.  For  BO  instruc- 
tions Avill  he  give  without  compulsion,  nor  can  you  move  him 
by  entreaty :  ply  him,  when  taken,  with  rigid  force  and 
chains  :  all  his  tricks  to  evade  these,  proving  vain,  will  at 
length  be  baffled.  I  myself,  as  soon  as  the  sun  has  inflamed 
his  noon-tide  heats  ;  when  the  herbs  thirst,  and  the  shade  be- 
comes more  grateful  to  the  cattle,  will  conduct  you  into  the 
old  god's  retreats,  whither  he  retires  from  the  waves  when  fa- 
tigued ;  that  you  may  easily  assail  him  overpowered  with 
sleep.  But  when  you  shall  hold  him  fast'  confined  within 
your  arms  and  chains,  then  various  forms  and  features  of  wild 
beasts  will  mock  your  grasp.  For  suddenly  he  will  become  a 
bristly  boar,  a  fell  tiger,  a  scaly  dragon,  and  a  lioness  with  a 
tawny  mane  :  or  he  will  emit  the  roaring  of  flame,  and  escape 
the  chain  ;  or,  liquefied  into  fluid  waters,  glide  away.  But  the 
more  he  shall  transform  himself  into  all  shapes,  still  closer 
draw,  my  son,  the  hampering  chains,  till,  rechanged,  he  shall 

30  Proteus,  a  sea-deity,  son  of  Oceanus  and  Tethys.     He  is  represented 
by  the  poets  as  usually  residing  in  the  Carpathian  Sea  between  Crete  and 
Rhodes :  he  possessed  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  also  the  power  of  as- 
suming different  shapes. 

31  Pallene,  a  small  peninsula  of  Macedonia,  on  the  .^Egean  Sea. 

32  Nereus,  a  sea-god,  son  of  Oceanus  and  Terra,  and  husjband  of  Doris, 
by  whom  he  had  fifty  daughters,  the  Nereids. 

5 


98  GEORGICS.  B.  rv.  414—452. 

become  such  as  you  saw  him  when  he  closed  his  eyes  in  sleep 
commenced.  She  spoke  ;  and  shed  around  the  liquid  odor  of 
ambrosia,  wherewith  she  sprinkled  over  the  whole  body  of  her 
son.  Now  from  his  trimmed  locks  a  delicious  fragrance 
breathed,  and  active  vigor  was  infused  into  his  limbs.  In  the 
side  of  a  hollowed  mountain  is  a  spacious  cave,  whither  many 
a  wave  is  driven  by  the  wind,  and  divides  itself  into  receding 
curves ;  at  times  a  station  most  secure  for  weather-beaten 
mariners.  Within  Proteus  hides  himself  behind  the  barrier  of 
a  huge  rock.  Here  the  nymph  places  the  youth  in  ambush 
remote  from  view ;  she  herself  takes  her  station  at  a  distance, 
shrouded  in  a  misty  cloud.  Now  the  sultry  dog-star,  scorch- 
ing the  thirsty  Indians,  blazed  in  the  sky,  and  the  fiery  sun 
had  finished  half  his  course  :  the  herbs  withered  ;  and  the  rays 
made  the  shallow  over-heated  rivers  boil,  their  channels  being 
drained  to  their  slimy  bottom  ;  when  Proteus,  repairing  to  his 
accustomed  den,  advanced  from  the  waves.  The  watery  race 
of  the  vast  ocean,  gamboling  around  him,  scatter  the  briny 
spray  far  and  near.  The  sea-calves  apart  lay  themselves 
down  to  sleep  along  the  shore.  He  himself  (as  at  times  the 
keeper  of  a  fold  upon  the  mountains,  when  evening  brings 
home  the  bullocks  from  the  pasture,  and  the  lambs  with  noisy 
bleatings  whet  the  hunger  of  the  wolves)  sits  in  the  center  on 
a  rock,  and  counts  over  their  numbers.  Of  [seizing]  whom 
since  so  favorable  an  opportunity  offered  itself  to  Aristaeus, 
scarcely  suffering  the  aged  god  to  compose  his  weary  limbs,  he 
rushes  upon  him*  with  a  great  shout,  and  surprises  him  with 
chains  reclining.  He,  on  the  other  hand,  not  forgetful  of  his 
art,  transforms  himself  into  all  the  wondrous  shapes  in  nature  ; 
fire,  and  a  fierce  savage,  and  flowing  river.  But  when  no 
shifts  could  find  him  an  escape,  overpowered  he  returned  to 
himself,  and  at  length  thus  spoke  in  human  accent :  Who, 
most  presumptuous  youth,  enjoined  thee  (he  said)  to  approach 
my  habitation  ?  or  what  demandest  thou  here  ?  But  he  [re- 
plied], Thou  knowest,  O  Proteus,  thou  knowest  of  thyself; 
nor  is  it  in  any  one's  power  to  deceive  thee  ;  but  do  thou  cease 
to  try  [to  escape  me].  In  pursuance  of  divine  command,  I 
come  hither  to  consult  thy  oracle  about  my  ruined  aifairs. 
Thus  much  he  spoke.  Then  the  prophet  at  length,  with 
mighty  force,  rolled  his  eyes  flashing  with  azure  light,  and 
gnashing  his  teeth  fiercely,  thus  opened  his  mouth  to  disclo.se 


B.  IV.  453—485.  GEOEGICS.  99 

• 

the  Fates  :  It  is  the  vengeance  of  no  mean  deity  that  pursues 
thee  :  thou  art  making  atonement  for  heinous  crimes :  these 
sufferings,  by  no  means  proportioned  to  thy  guilt,  unhappy 
Orpheus  entails  upon  thee,  unless  the  Fates  oppose ;  and  he 
sorely  rages  for  his  ravished  queen.  She,  indeed,  rushing 
headlong  along  the  river's  bank,  provided  she  could  only 
escape  thee,  the  maid  doomed  to  death  saw  not  the  hideous 
water-snake  before  her  feet,  guarding  the  banks  in  the  tall 
grass.  But  her  fellow  choir  of  Dryads  filled  the  highest 
mountains  with  shrieks  :  the  rocks  of  Rhodope  wept ;  so  did 
lofty  Pangaea,33  and  the  martial  land  of  Rhesus,  the  Getae,  and 
Hebrus,  and  attic  Orithyia.  Orpheus34  himself,  soothing  the 
anguish  of  his  love  with  his  concave  shell,  sang  of  thee,  sweet 
spouse,  of  thee  by  himself  on  the  lonely  shore  ;  thee  when  the 
day  arose,  thee  when  the  day  declined,  he  sang.  He  entering 
even  the  jaws  of  Taenarus,  Pluto's  gates  profound,  and  the 
grove  overcast  with  gloomy  horror,  visited  the  Manes,  and 
their  tremendous  king,  and  hearts  unknowing  to  relent  at 
human  prayers.  But  the  airy  shades  and  phantoms  of  the 
dead,  moved  at  his  song,  stalked  forth  from  the  deep  re- 
cesses of  Erebus,35  in  such  throngs,  as  birds  that  shelter 
themselves  by  thousands  in  the  woods,  when  evening,  or  a 
wintery  shower  drives  them  from  the  mountains  ;  matrons,  and 
men,  and  ghosts  of  gallant  heroes  deceased,  boys  and  unmarried 
virgins,  and  youths  laid  on  the  funeral  piles  before  the  faces 
of  their  parents ;  whom  the  black  mud  and  unsightly  reeds 
of  Cocytus,  and  the  lovely  lake  with  sluggish  wave,  inclose 
around,  and  Styx,  nine  times  poured  between,  confines.  The 
very  habitations  and  deepest  dungeons  of  death  were  aston- 
ished, and  the  Furies,  with  whose  hair  blue  snakes  were  inter- 
woven ;  and  yawning  Cerberus  repressed  his  three  mouths ; 
and  the  whirling  of  Ixion's  wheel  was  suspended  by  the  song. 
And  now  retracing  his  way,  he  had  overpassed  all  dangers  ; 

33  Pangsea,  a. mountain  on  the  confines  of  Macedonia  and  Thrace. 

34  Orpheus  was  feigned  by  the  poets  to  have  descended  into  the  infernal 
regions  to  recover  his  wife  Eurydice,  when  he  so  charmed  Pluto  and 
Proserpine  with  the  music  of  his  lyre,  that  they  consented  to  restore  her, 
provided  he  forbore  looking  behind  until  he  had  gained  the  upper  regions ; 
but  he  forgot  his  promise  and  his  Eurydice  instantly  vanished. 

33  Erebus,  a  god  of  hell ;  often  used  to  signify  hell  itself.  Cerberus, 
represented  as  a  dog  with  three  heads,  that  watched  the  entrance  into 
the  infernal  regions. 


100  GEORGICS.  B.  iv.  486—521. 

and  restored  Eurydice  was  just  approaching  the  regions  above, 
following  him ;  for  Proserpina  had  given  him  that  law  ;  when 
a  sudden  frenzy  seized  the  unwary  lover,  pardonable,  indeed, 
if  the  Manes  knew  to  pardon.  He  stopped,  and  on  the  very 
verge  of  light,  ah !  unmindful,  and  not  master  of  himself, 
looked  back  on  his  Eurydice :  there  was  all  his  labor  wasted, 
and  the  law  of  the  relentless  tyrant  broken  ;  and  thrice  a  dis- 
mal groan  was  heard  through  the  Avernian  lake.  Orpheus, 
she  says,  who  hath  both  unhappy  me  and  thee  undone  :  what 
so  great  frenzy  is  this  ?  see  once  more  the  cruel  Fates  call  me 
back,  and  sleep  closes  my  swimming  eyes.  And  now  fare- 
well :  I  am  snatched  away,  encompassed  with  thick  night,  and 
stretching  forth  to  thee  my  feeble  hands  !  ah,  thine  no  more. 
She  spoke  ;  and  suddenly  fled  from  his  sight  a  different  way,38 
like  smoke  blended  with  the  thin  air :  nor  more  was  seen  by 
him  grasping  the  shades  in  vain,  and  wishing  to  say  a  thou- 
sand things  ;  nor  did  the  ferryman  of  hell  suffer  him  again  to 
cross  the  intervening  fen.  "What  should  he  do  ?  whither 
should  he  turn  himself,  his  love  twice  snatched  away  ?  with 
what  tears  move  the  Manes,  with  what  words  the  gods  I  She, 
already  cold,  was  sailing  in  the  Stygian  boat.  For  seven  whole 
months,  it  is  said,  he  mourned  beneath  a  weather-beaten  rock, 
by  the  streams  of  desert  Strymon,  and  unfolded  these  his  woes 
under  the  cold  caves,  softening  the  very  tigers,  and  leading 
the  oaks  with  his  song ;  as  mourning  Philomel  under  a  poplar 
shade  bemoans  her  lost  young,  which  the  hard-hearted  clown 
observing  in  the  nest  has  stolen  unfledged ;  but  she  weeps 
through,  the  night,  and,  perched  upon  a  bough,  renews  her 
doleful  song,  and  fills  the  place  all  around  with  piteous  wail- 
ings.  No  loves,  no  hymenial  joys,  could  bend  his  soul.  Alone 
he  traversed  the  Hyperborean  tracts  of  ice,  the  snowy  Tanais, 
and  fields  never  free  from  Riphaean  frosts,  deploring  his  rav- 
ished Eurydice,  and  Pluto's  useless  gifts ;  for  which  despised 
rite"  the  Ciconian  matrons,  amid  the  sacred  sen-ice  of  the 

38  I  have  always  felt  satisfied  with  this  participle  "  diversa,"  al- 
though, I  believe,  Servius  and  all  MSS.  support  it.  I  think  "  dilapsa"  is 
more  Virgilian.  Cf.  Georg.  iv.  410.  So  Lucan,  in  an  evident  imitation  of 
this  passage,  iii.  34,  "  Sic  fata,  refugit  Umbra  per  amplexus  trepidi  dilapsa 
mariti."  So  "  delapsa,"  Ovid,  Art.  Am.  L  43 ;  "  relapsa,"  Met.  x.  57.  B. 

37  The  attempts  to  explain  this  passage  are  confessedly  hopeless.  See 
Anthon.  "  Munere "  probably  arose  from  a  gloss  upon  the  preceding 
"  dona,"  Can  "  quo  nomina"  ( =  on  what  pretext)  be  the  true  reading  ?  B. 


B.  iv.  521—559.  GEORGICS.  101 

gods  and  nocturnal  orgies  of  Bacchus,  having  torn  the  youth 
in  pieces,  scattered  his  liinbs  over  the  wide  fields.  And  even 
then,  whilst  (Eagrian  Hebrus  rolled  down  the  middle  of  its 
tide,  his  head  torn  from  the  alabaster  neck,  the  voice  itself, 
and  his  chilling  tongue,  invoked  Eurydice,  ah,  unfortunate 
Eurydice  \  with  his  fleeting  breath ;  the  banks  re-echoed  Eu- 
rvdice  all  along  the  river.  Thus  Proteus  sang,  and  plunged 
with  a  bound  into  the  deep  sea ;  and,  where  he  plunged,  he 
tossed  up  the  foaming  billows  under  the  whirling  tide. 

But  not  so  Gyrene :  for  kindly  she  bespoke  the  trembling 
[Aristeas]  :  My  son,  you  may  ease  your  mind  of  vexatious 
cares.  This  is  the  whole  cause  of  your  disaster ;  hence  the 
nymphs,  with  whom  she  used  to  celebrate  the  mingled  dances 
in  the  deep  groves,  have  sent  this  mournful  destruction  on 
your  bees  :  but  suppliant  bear  offerings,  beseeching  peace,  and 
venerate  the  gentle  wood-nymphs ;  for  at  your  supplications 
they  will  grant  forgiveness,  and  mitigate  their  wrath.  But 
first  will  I  show  you  in  order  what  must  be  your  manner  of 
worship.  Single  out  four  choice  bulls  of  beauteous  form, 
which  now  graze  for  you  the  tops  of  green  Lycseus ;  and  as 
many  heifers,  whose  necks  are  untouched  [by  the  yoke].  For 
these  erect  four  altars  at  the  lofty  temples  of  the  goddesses': 
from  their  throats  emit  the  sacred  blood,  and  leave  the  bodies 
of  the  cattle  in  the  leafy  grove.  Afterward,  when  the  ninth 
morn  has  displayed  her  rising  beams,  you  may  offer  Lethsean 
poppies  as  funeral  rites  to  Orpheus,  venerate  appeased  Eury- 
dice with  a  slain  calf,  sacrifice  a  black  ewe,  and  revisit  the 
grove. 

Without  delay,  he  instantly  executes  the  orders  of  his 
mother ;  repairs  to  the  temple ;  raises  the  altars  as  directed ; 
leads  up  four  chosen  bulls  of  surpassing  form,  and  as  many 
heifers,  whose  necks  were  untouched.  Thereafter,  the  ninth 
morning  having  ushered  in  her  rising  beams,  he  offers  the 
funeral  rites  to  Orpheus,  and  revisits  the  grove.  But  here 
they  behold  a  sudden  prodigy,  and  wonderful  to  relate ;  bees 
through  all  the  belly  hum  amid  the  decomposed  bowels  of 
the  cattle ;  pour  forth  with  the  fermenting  juices  from  the 
burst  sides,  and  in  immense  clouds  roll  along ;  then  swarm 
together  on  the  top  of  a  tree,  and  hang  down  in  a  cluster  from 
the  bending  boughs. 

Thus  of  the  culture  of  fields,  and  flocks,  and   of  trees,  I 


102  GEORGICS.  B.  IT.  660—566. 

sung;  while  great  Caesar  at  the  deep  Euphrates  was  thun- 
dering in  war,  was  victoriously  dispensing  laws  among  the 
willing  nations,  and  pursuing  the  path  to  Olympus.  At  that 
time,  me,  Virgil,  sweet  Parthenope3*  nourished,  flourishing  in 
the  studies  of  inglorious  ease ;  who  warbled  pastoral  songs, 
and,  adventurous  through  youth,  sung  thee,  O  Tltyrus,  under 
the  covert  of  a  spreading  beach. 

33  Parthenope,  afterward  called  Neapolia  (Naples),  a  celebrated  city 
of  Campania,  in  Italy,  seated  on  a  beautiful  bay,  from  which  it  rises  like 
an  amphitheater.  It  received  the  name  of  Parthenope  from  one  of  the 
Sirens  who  was  buried  there. 


BOOK  I. 

The  subject  of  the  JEneid  is  the  settlement  of  _<Eneas  in  Italy.  This  noble 
Poem,  on  the  composition  of  which  Virgil  was  engaged  eleven  years,  con- 
sists of  twelve  books,  and  comprehends  a  period  ot  eight  years.  In  the 
First  Book,  the  hero  is  introduced,  in  the  seventh  year  of  his  expedition, 
sailing  from  Sicily,  and  shipwrecked  upon  the  coast  of  Africa,  where  he 
is  kindly  received  by  Dido,  queen  of  Carthage.  The  description  of  the 
storm  in  this  book  is  particularly  admired. 

ARMS  I  sing,1  and  the  hero,  who  first,  exiled  by  fate,  came  from 
the  coast  of  Troy  to  Italy,  and  the  Lavinian3  shore  :  much  was 
he  tossed  both  on  sea  and  land,  by  the  power  of  those  above, 
on  account  of  the  unrelenting  rage  of  cruel  Juno  :  much  too  he 
suffered  in  war  till  he  founded  a  city,  and  brought  his  gods 
into  Latium :  from  whence  the  Latin  progeny,  the  Alban 
fathers,  and  the  walls  of  lofty  Rome. 

Declare  to  me,  O  Muse !  the  causes,  in  what*  the  deity  being 
offended,  by  what  the  queen  of  heaven  was  provoked  to  drive  a 
man  of  distinguished  piety  to  struggle  with  so  many  calamities, 
to  encounter  so  many  hardships.  Is  there  such  resentment  in 
heavenly  minds  ? 

An  ancient  city  there  was,  Carthage*  (inhabited  by  a  colony 
of  Tyrians),  fronting  Italy  and  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  far 
remote ;  vast  in  riches,  and  extremely  hardy  in  warlike  ex- 
ercises ;  which  [city]  Juno  is  said  to  have  honored  more 

1  Respecting  the  four  verses  usually  prefixed  to  the  ^Eneid,  see  Anthon.  B 

2  Lavinium  (Pratica),   a  city  of  Latium,  built  by  ^Eneas.  and  called 
by  that  name  in  honor  of  Lavinia. 

3  i.  e.  "  quo  modo."     It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  we  should  join 
"  quo  numine,"  since  Juno  has  been  already  mentioned.     B. 

4  Carthage,  a  powerful  city  of  ancient  Africa,  on  a  peninsula,  12  miles 
north-east  of  Tunis,  was  built  by  a  colony  of  Tyrians  under  Dido,  about 
100  years  before  the  foundation  of  Rome.     After  having  been  long  mis- 
tress at  sea,  and  the  rival  of  Rome,  Carthage  was  totally  destroyed  by 
Scipio  Africanus  the  younger,  in  the  third  Punic  war,  B.  c.  146,  an  event 
to  which  the  memorable  words,  "Delenda  est  Carthago,"  of  the  elder 
Cato,  mainly  contributed. 


104  ^ENEID.  B.  i.  16—33. 

than  any  other  place  of  her  residence,  Samos*  being  set  aside. 
Here  lay  her  arms;  here  was  her  chariot;  here  the  goddess 
even  then  designs  and  fondly  hopes  to  establish  a  seat  of 
universal  empire,  would  only  the  Fates  permit.  But  she  had 
heard  of  a  race  to  be  descended  from  Trojan  blood,  that  was 
one  day  to  overturn  the  Tyrian  towers :  that  hence  a  people 
of  extensive  regal  sway,  and  proud  in  war,  would  come  to  the 
destruction  of  Libya :  so  the  destinies  ordained.  This  the 
daughter  of  Saturn  dreading,  and  mindful  of  the  old  war 
which  she  had  the  principal  hand  in  carrying  on  before  Troy,6 
in  behalf  of  her  beloved  Argos  ;T  nor  as  yet  were  the  causes 
of  her  rage  and  keen  resentment  worn  out  of  her  mind  ;  the 
judgment  of  Paris  dwells  deeply  rooted  in  her  soul,  the  affront 
offered  to  her  neglected  beauty,  the  detested  [Trojan]  race, 
and  the  honors  conferred  on  ravished  Ganymede  :8  she,  by 
these  things  fired,  having  tossed  on  the  whole  ocean  the 
Trojans,  whom  the  Greeks  and  merciless  Achilles  had  left, 
drove  them  far  from  Latium  ;9  and  thus,  for  many  years,  they, 
driven  by  fate,  roamed  round  every  sea :  so  vast  a  work  it  was 
to  found  the  Roman  state. 

6  Samop.  an  island  in  the  ^Egean  Sea,  near  the  coast  of  Io;i!a.  It  is 
extremely  fertile,  producing  the  most  delicious  fruits,  and  iti  iamous  as 
being  the  birth-place  of  Pythagoras.  Samos  was  sacred  to  Juno,  who 
had  here  a  most  magnificent  temple. 

•  Troy,  or  Ilium,  one  of  the  most  renowned  cities  of  antiquity,  the 
capital  of  Troas  in  Asia  Minor,  was  built  on  a  small  eminence  near  Mount 
Ida,  between  the  Simois  and  Scamander,  a  short  distance  above  their 
confluence,  and  about  four  miles  from  the  ^Egean  shore.  Of  all  the  wars 
that  have  been  carried  on  among  the  ancients,  that  of  Troy  is  the  most 
famous,  whether  we  regard  the  celebrity  of  the  chiefs  engaged  in  it,  or 
the  deeds  in  arms  which  it  called  forth.  According  to  the  generally  re- 
ceived account,  the  Trojan  war  was  undertaken  by  the  Greeks  to  recover 
Helen,  the  wife  of  Menelaus,  whom  Paris,  the  son  of  Priam,  king  of 
Troy,  had  carried  away.  All  Greece  united  to  avenge  the  cause  of  Me- 
nelaus, and  Troy,  after  a  siege  of  ten  years,  was  taken  and  burnt,  B.  c. 
1184.  No  vestige  now  remains  of  ancient  Troy;  and  even  its  site  has 
become  matter  of  uncertainty. 

1  Argos,  the  capital  of  Argolis,  a  district  of  Peloponnesus,  of  which 
Juno  was  the  chief  deity.  During  the  Trojan  war,  Agamemnon  was  king 
of  the  united  kingdom  of  Argos  and  Mycenae. 

8  Ganymede,  the  son  of  Tros,  king  of  Troy,  feigned  to  have  been  taken 
tip  to  heaven  by  Jupiter,  and  there  became  the  cupbearer  of  the  gods  in 
the  place  of  Juno's  daughter  Hebe. 

'  Latium  (Campagna  di  Roma),  a  country  of  Italy,  on  the  east  of  the 
Tiber.  The  Latins  rose  into  importance  when  Romulus  had  founded  the 
city  of  Rome  in  their  country. 


B.  i.  34—54.  -(ENEID.  105 

Scarcely  had  the  Trojans,  losing  sight  of  Sicily,10  with  joy 
launched  out  into  the  deep,  and  were  plowing  the  foaming 
billows  with  their  brazen  prows,  when  Juno,  harboring  ever- 
lasting rancor  in  her  breast,  thus  with  herself:11  Shall  I 
then,  baffled,  desist  from  my  purpose,  nor  have  it  in  my  power 
to  turn  away  the  Trojan  king  from  Italy?  because  I  am  re- 
strained by  fate !  Was  Pallas  able  to  burn  the  Grecian  ships, 
and  bury  themselves  in  the  ocean,  for  the  offense  of  one,  and 
the  frenzy  of  Ajax,12  Oileus'  son  ?  She  herself,  hurling  from  the 
clouds  Jove's  rapid  fire,  both  scattered  their  ships,  and  upturned 
the  sea  with  the  winds :  him  too  she  snatched  away  in  a  whirl- 
wind, breathing  flames  from  his  transfixed  breast,  and  dashed 
him  against  the  pointed  rock.  But  I,  who  move  majestic,13  the 
queen  of  heaven,  both  sister  and  wife  of  Jove,  must  maintain  a 
series  of  wars  with  one  single  race  for  so  many  years.  And 
who  will  henceforth  adore  Juno's  divinity,14  or  humbly  offer 
sacrifice  on  her  altars  ? 

The  goddess  by  herself  revolving  such  thoughts  in  her  in- 
flamed breast,  repairs  to  ^Eolia,15  the  native  land  of  storms, 
regions16  pregnant  with  boisterous  winds.  Here,  in  a  vast 
cave,  king  JEolus  controls  with  imperial  sway  the  reluctant 
winds  and  sounding  tempests,  and  confines  them  with  chains 

10  Sicily,  the  largest  and  most  celebrated  island  in  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  to  the  south  of  Italy,  and  separated  from  it  by  the  Straits  of  Messina. 
It  is  of  a  triangular  form,  and  from  its  three  promontories  was  anciently 
called  Trinacria.     Its  name  Sicily  was  derived  from  the  Siculi,  a  people 
of  Italy  who  settled  in  it. 

11  Cf.  interpp.  on  Ter.  Andr.  L  1.  55,  "  Egomet  qontinuo  mecum,"    B. 

12  Ajax,  the  son  of  Oileus,  king  of  Locris,  one  of  the  Grecian  chiefs  in 
the  Trojan  war.     He  was  surnamed  Locrian,  to  distinguish  him  from 
Ajax  the  son  of  Telamon. 

13  Such  is  the  proper  sense  of  "  incedere."     C£  -Sn.  i.  493.    Tibull. 
ii.  6,  34     Propert.  ii.  1,  5.     More  particularly  Seneca,  Nat.  Q.  vii.  31, 
"  non   ambulamus,    sed  incedimus."     Propert.  ii.   2,  58,  "  incedit  vel 
Jove  digna  soror."     B. 

14  Some  MSS.  of  Quintilian,  ix.  2,  p.  772,  give  "nomen."    Cf.  Drak. 
on  Sil.  i.  93.     B. 

15  The  jEolian  Islands,  situated  between  Italy  and  Sicily,  which  were 
seven  in  number.     Here  .JSolus,  the  son  of  Hippotas,  reigned,  reputed 
king  of  the  winds,  because,  from  a  course  of  observations,  he  had  ac- 
quired some  knowledge  of  the  weauier,  and  was  capable  of  foretelling 
at  times  what  wind  would  blow  for  some  days  together,  as  we  learn  from 
Diodorus  and  Pliny. 

16  For  the  change  of  number,  "  patriam  ....  loca,"  c£  ^n.  vi.    "  Itur 
in  antiquam  silvam,  stabula  alia  ferarum."    B. 

5* 


106  xENEID.  fi.  I.  55—88. 

in  prison.  They  roar  indignant  round  their  barriers,  filling  the 
mountain  with  loud  murmurs.  JEolus  is  seated  on  a  lofty 
throne,  wielding  a  scepter,  and  assuages  their  fury,  and  moder- 
ates their  rage.  For,  unless  he  did  so,  they,  in  their  rapid 
career,  would  bear  away  sea  and  earth,  and  the  deep  heaven, 
and  sweep  them  through  the  air.  But  the  almighty  Sire, 
guarding  against  this,  hath  pent  them  in  gloomy  caves,  and 
thrown  over  them  the  ponderous  weight  of  mountains,  and  ap- 
pointed them  a  king,  who,  by  fixed  laws,  and  at  command, 
knows  both  to  curb  them,  and  when  to  relax  their  reins ;  whom 
Juno  then  in  suppliant  words  thus  addressed :  vEolus  (for  the 
sire  of  gods  and  the  king  of  men  hath  given  thee  power  both 
to  smooth  the  waves,  and  raise  them  with  the  wind),  a  race  by 
me  detested  sails  the  Tuscan  Sea,  transporting  Ilium  and  its 
conquered  gods,  into  Italy.  Strike  force  into  thy  winds,  over- 
set and  sink17  the  ships;  or  drive  them  different  ways,  and 
strew  the  ocean  with  carcasses.  I  have  twice  seven  lovely 
nymphs,  the  fairest  of  whom,  Dei'opeia,  I  will  join  to  thee  in 
firm  wedlock,  and  assign  to  be  thine  own  forever,18  that  with 
thee  she  may  spend  all  her  years  for  this  service,  and  make  thee 
father  of  a  beautiful  offspring. 

To  whom  ^Eolus  replies:  'Tis  thy  task,  0  queen,  to  con- 
sider what  you  would  have  done :  on  me  it  is  incumbent  to 
execute  your  commands.  You  conciliate  to  me  whatever  of 
power  I  have,  my  scepter,  and  Jove.  You  grant  me  to  sit  at 
the  tables  of  the  gods:19  and  you  make  me  lord  of  storms  and 
tempests. 

Thus  having  said,  whirling  the  point  of  his  spear,  he  struck 
the  hollow  mountain's  side :  and  the  winds,  as  in  a  formed 
battalion,  rush  forth  at  every  vent,  and  scour  over  the  lands  in 
a  hurricane.  They  press  upon  the  ocean,  and  at  once,  east, 
and  south,  and  stormy  south-west,  plow  up  the  whole  deep 
from  its  lowest  bottom,  and  roll  vast  billows  to  the  shores. 
The  cries  of  the  seamen  succeed,  and  the  cracking  of  the  cord- 
age. In  an  instant  clouds  snatch  the  heavens  and  day  from 

17  i.  e.  "obrue,  ut  submergantur."     So  in  Greek,  as  Soph.  (Ed.  T.  165, 
Tjvvaai'  inroTriav  0/loya,  i.  e.  uare  slvai  eKToniav.     Eur.  Ph.  446,  JiaA- 
l.d!;aaav  6/noyevel^  tyihovf.     B. 

18  This  is  the  complete  sense  of  "  propriam,"  expressing  the  Homeric 
r/v  ativ  iehfcai  ijfiara  TTUVTO.  (II.  E.  cap.  269.)     Cf.  Westerhov.  on  Ter. 
Andr.  iv.  3,  1.    B. 

19  Festus,  "  maxima  enim  fuit  honos,  Divum  epulis  accumbere."    B. 


B.  i.  89—110.  ^NEID.  107 

the  eyes  of  the  Trojans :  sable  night  sits  brooding  on  the  sea, 
thunder  roars  from  pole  to  pole,  the  sky  glares  with  repeated 
flashes,  and  all  nature  threatens  them  with  immediate  death. 
Forthwith  ^Eneas'20  limbs  are  relaxed  with  cold  shuddering 
fear.  He  groans,  and,  spreading  out  both  his  hands  to  heaven, 
thus  expostulates :  O  thrice  and  four  times  happy  they,  who 
had  the  good  fortune  to  die  before  their  parent's  eyes,  under 
the  high  ramparts  of  Troy !  O  thou,  the  bravest  of  the  Grecian 
race,  great  Tydeus"1  son,  why  was  I  not  destined  to  fall  on  the 
Trojan  plains,  and  pour  out  this  soul  by  thy  right  hand  ?  where 
stern  Hector"  lies  prostrate  by  the  sword  of  Achilles ;  where 
mighty  Sarpedon23  [lies] ;  where  Simois"4  rolls  along  so  many 
shields,  and  helmets,  and  bodies  of  heroes  snatched  away  be- 
neath its  waters. 

While  uttering  such  words  a  tempest,  roaring  from  the 
north,  strikes  across  the  sail,  and  heaves  the  billows  to  the 
stars.  The  oars  are  shattered:  then  the  prow  turns  away, 
and  exposes  the  side  to  the  waves.  A  steep  mountain  of 
waters  follows  in  a  heap.  These  hang  on  the  towering  surge ; 
to  those  the  wide-yawning  deep  discloses  the  earth  between 
two  waves:  the  whirling  tide  rages  with  [mingled]  sand. 
Three  other  ships  the  south  wind  hurrying  away,  throws  on 
hidden  rocks;  rocks  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean,  which  the 
Italians  call  Altars,85  a  vast  ridge  rising  to  the  surface  of  the 

20  tineas,  a  Trojan  prince,  son  of  Anchises  and  Venus,  who,  after  the 
fall  of  Troy,  came  to  Italy,  where  he  married  Lavinia,  the  daughter  of 
Latinus,  whom  he  succeeded  in  his  kingdom. 

21  Tydeus'  son,  Diomedes,  the  son  of  Tydeus  and  Deiphyle,  was  king 
of  JEtolia,  and  one  of  the  most  renowned  of  the  Grecian  chiefs  in  the 
Trojan  war,  where  he  performed  many  heroic  deeds. 

22  Hector,  the  son  of  Priam  and  Hecuba,  was  the  most  valiant  of  all 
the  Trojan  chiefs.    For  a  long  time  he  gloriously  sustained  the  destinies 
of  Troy,  till  at  last  he  fell  by  the  hand  of  Achilles,  who  dragged  the  body, 
with  insulting  triumph,  three  times  round  the  tomb  of  Patroclus  and  the 
walls  of  Troy. 

23  Sarpedon,  a  son  of  Jupiter  by  Europa,  and  brother  to  Minos,  went 
to  the  Trojan  war  to  assist  Priam,  and  was  slain  by  Patroclus.     Accord- 
ing to  some  authors,  the  Sarpedon  who  assisted  Priam  was  king  of  Lycia, 
and  son  of  Jupiter  by  Laodamia,  the  daughter  of  Bellerophon. 

2*  Simois,  a  river  of  Troas,  which  rose  in  Mount  Ida^  and  fell  into  the 
Scamander  below  Troy. 

25  Altars ;  these  were  the  Agates,  three  small  islands  opposite  Car- 
thage, near  which  the  Roman  fleet,  under  L.  Catulus,  obtained  a  de- 
cisive victory  over  that  of  the  Carthaginians,  which  put  an  end  to  the 


108  JESE1D.  B.  I.  Ill— 139. 

sea.  Three  from  the  deep  the  east  wind  drives  on  shoals  and 
flats,  a  piteous  spectacle!  and  dashing  on  the  shelves,  it  in- 
closes them  with  mounds  of  sand.  Before  the  eyes  of  JGneas 
himself,  a  mighty  billow,  falling  from  the  height,  dashes  against 
the  stern  of  one  which  bore  the  Lycian  crew,  and  faithful 
Orontes :"'  the  pilot  is  tossed  out  and  rolled  headlong,  prone 
[into  the  waves] ;  but  her  the  driving  surge  thrice  whirls 
around  in  the  same  place,  and  the  rapid  eddy  swallows  up  in 
the  deep.  Then  floating  here  and  there  on  the  vast  abyss,  are 
seen  men,  their  arms  and  planks,  and  the  Trojan  wealth  among 
the  waves.  Now  the  storm  overpowered  the  stout  vessel  of 
Bioneus,57  now  that  of  brave  Achates,  and  that  in  which  Abas 
sailed,  and  that  in  which  old  Alethes :  all,  at  their  loosened 
and  disjointed  sides,  receive  the  hostile  stream,  and  gape  with 
chinks. 

Meanwhile  Neptune  perceived  that  the  sea  was  in  great 
uproar  and  confusion,  a  storm  sent  forth,  and  the  depths  over- 
turned from  their  lowest  channels.  He,  in  violent  commo- 
tion, and  looking  forth  from  the  deep,  reared  his  serene  coun- 
tenance above  the  waves ;  sees  ^Eneas's  fleet  scattered  over 
the  ocean,  the  Trojans  oppressed  with  the  waves  and  the  ruin 
from  above.  Nor  were  Juno's  wiles  and  hate  unknown  to 
her  brother.  He  calls  to  him  the  east  and  west  winds ;  then 
thus  addresses  them:  And  do  you  thus  presume  upon  your 
birth  ?  dare  you,  winds !  without  my  sovereign  leave,  to  em- 
broil heaven  and  earth,  and  raise  such  mountains.  Whom 

I "8     But  first  it  is  right  to  assuage  the  tumultuous  waves. 

A  chastisement  of  another  nature  from  me  awaits  your  next 
offense.  Fly  apace,  and  bear  this  message  to  your  king :  That 
not  to  him  the  empire  of  the  sea,  and  the  awful  trident,  but 
to  me  by  lot  are  given :  his  dominions  are  the  mighty  rocks, 

first  Punic  war,  B.  c.  241.  DAVIDSON.  Heyne  would  condemn  this 
line  as  spurious.  It  is,  however,  quoted  by  QuintiL  viii.  2,  p.  675.  Cf. 
"Wyttenb.  on  Plat.  Phsedon,  §  135.  B. 

26  Orontea  commanded  the  Lycian  fleet,  which,  after  the  fall  of  Troy, 
accompanied  ./Eneas  in  his  voyage  to  Italy. 

87  Ilioneus,  son  of  Phorbas,  was  distinguished  for  hig  eloquence. 
Achates,  a  friend  of  J^neas,  whose  fidelity  was  so  exemplary,  that  Fidus 
Achates  became  a  proverb. 

28  This  dTroaiuTrrjai^  or.  sudden  break  in  speaking,  is  remarked  by 
Bonatus  on  Ter.  Eun.  i.  1,  20.  Aquila  Romanus,  fig.  rhet.  p.  147.  ed. 
Ruhnk.  and  Quintil.  ix.  2,  p.  781.  B. 


B.  i.  140—171.  J3NEID.  109 

your  proper  mansions  Eurus :  in  that  palace  let  king  JEolus 
proudly  boast,  and  reign  in  the  close  prison  of  the  winds. 

So  he  speaks,  and,  more  swiftly  than  his  speech,**  smooths 
the  swelling  seas,  disperses  the  collected  clouds,  and  brings 
back  the  day.  With  him  Cymothoe,*0  and  Triton  with  exerted 
might,  heave  the  ships  from  the  pointed  rock.  He  himself 
raised  them  with  his  trident ;  lays  open  the  vast  sandbanks,  and 
calms  the  sea ;  and  in  his  light  chariot  glides  along  the  surface 
of  the  waves.  And  as  when  a  sedition  has  perchance31  arisen 
.among  a  mighty  multitude,  and  the  minds  of  the  ignoble 
vulgar  rage :  now  firebrands,  now  stones  fly ;  fury  supplies 
them  with  arms:  if  then,  by  chance,  they  espy  a  man  re- 
vered in  piety  and  worth,  they  are  hushed,  and  stand  with  ears 
erect;  he,  by  eloquence,  rules  thejr  passions,  and  calms  their 
breasts.  Thus  all  the  raging  tumult  of  the  ocean  subsides,  as 
soon  as  the  sire,  surveying  the  seas,  and  wafted  through  the 
open  sky,  guides  his  steeds,  and  flying,  gives  the  reins  to  his 
easy  chariot. 

The  weary  Trojans  direct  their  course  toward  the  nearest 
shores,  and  make  the  coast  of  Libya.  In  a  long  recess,  a  station 
lies  ;,an  island  forms  it  into  a  harbor  by  its  jutting  sides,  against 
which  every  wave  from  the  ocean  is  broken,  and  divides  itself 
into  receding  curves'.  On  either  side  vast  cliffs,  and  two 
twin-like  rocks,  threaten  the  sky ;  under  whose  summit  the 
waters  all  around  are  calm  and  still.  Above  is  a  sylvan  scene 
with  waving  woods,  and  a  dark  grove  with  awful  shade  hangs 
over.  Under  the  opposite  front  a  cave  is  of  pendant  rocks," 
within  which  are  fresh  springs,  and  seats  of  living  stone,3' 
the  recess  of  nymphs.  Here  neither  cables  hold,  nor  anchors 
with  crooked  fluke  moor  the  weather-beaten  ships.  To  this 
retreat  ^Eneas  brings  seven  ships,  collected  from  all  his  fleet ; 
and  the  Trojans,  longing  much  for  land,  disembarking,  enjoy 

29  See  Anthon.     So  Aoyov  GU.TTOV,  Heliodor.  Eth.  i.  15.  iv.  10.     B. 

30  Cymothoe,  one  of  the  Nereids.     Triton,  a  powerful  sea  deity,  son  of 
Neptune  and  Amphitrite.     Many  of  the  sea-gods  were  called  Tritons,  but 
the  name  was  generally  applied  to  those  only  who  were  represented  half 
men  and  half  fishes. 

31  "Ssepe."  like  the  Greek  -KO/^MKI^  is  often  used  in  this  sense,  as  ob- 
served by  Abresch.  Diluc.  Thucyd.  p.  174,  and  Heindorf  on  Plat.  Phse- 
don.  §  11.     B. 

32  My  interpretation  is  justified  by  Ennius,  Scriver.  p.  20,   "per  spe- 
luncas  saxis  structas  asperis  pendentibus."    B. 

33  OVTOTIKT'  uvrpa,  JEsch.  Prom.  309.  In  English,  "  natural  cavee."  B. 


110  ^ENEID.  B.  L  172—205. 

the  wished-for  shore,  and  stretch  their  brine-drenched  limbs 
upon  the  beach.  Then  first  Achates  struck  spark  from  a  flint, 
received  the  fire  in  leaves,  round  it  applied  dry  combustible 
matter,  and  instantly  blew  up  a  flame  from  the  fuel.  Then, 
spent  with  toil  and  hunger,  they  produce  their  grain,  damaged 
by  the  sea-water,  and  the  instruments  of  Ceres ;  and  prepare 
to  dry  over  the  fire,  and  to  grind  with  stones,  their  rescued 
corn.  Meanwhile  ^Eneas  climbs  a  rock,  and  takes  a  prospect 
of  the  wide  ocean  all  around,  if,  by  any  means,  he  can  descry 
any  [man  like]  Antheus  tossed  by  the  wind,  and  the  Phrygian 
galleys  or  Capys,"  or  the  arms  of  Caicus,  on  the  lofty  deck. 
He  sees  no  ship  in  view,  but  three  stags  straying  on  the  shore ; 
these  the  whole  herd  follow,  and  are  feeding  through  the  valley 
in  a  long-extended  train.  Here  he  stopped  short,  and  snatch- 
ing his  bow  and  swift  arrows  (weapons  which  the  faithful 
Achates  bore),  first  prostrates  the  leaders,  bearing  their  heads 
high  with  branching  horns  ;  next  the  vulgar  throng ;  and  dis- 
perses the  whole  herd,  driving  them  with  darts  through  the 
leafy  woods.  Nor  desists  he,  till  conqueror  he  stretches  seven 
huge  deer  on  the  ground,  and  equals  their  number  with  his 
ships.  Hence  he  returns  to  the  port,  and  shares  them  among 
all  his  companions.  Then  the  hero  divides  the  wine  which 
the  good  Acestes3'  had  stowed  in  casks  on  the  Sicilian  shore, 
and  given  them  at  parting,  and  with  these  words  cheers  their 
saddened  hearts :  O  companions,  who  have  sustained  severer 
ills  than  these  (for  we  are  not  strangers  to  former  days  of 
adversity),  to  these,  too,  God  will  grant  a  termination.  You 
have  approached36  both  Scylla's  fury,  and  those  deep  roaring 
rocks ;  you  are  unacquainted  with  the  dens  of  the  Cyclops : 
resume  then  your  courage,  and  dismiss  your  desponding  fears ; 
perhaps  hereafter  it  may  delight  you  to  remember  these  suf- 
ferings. Through  various  mischances,  through  so  many  peril- 
ous adventures,  we  steer  to  Latium,  where  the  Fates  give  us 
the  prospect  of  peaceful  settlements.  There  Troy's  kingdom 

34  Capys.  This  brave  Trojan  was  one  of  those  who,  against  the  advice 
of  Thymcetes,  wished  to  destroy  the  wooden  horse,  which  proved  the 
destruction  of  Troy. 

35  Acestes,  a  king  of  Sicily,  who  assisted  Priam  in  the  Trojan  war, 
and  who  afterward  kindly  entertained  ^Eneas  when  he  landed  upon  the 
coast  of  Sicily. 

35  "  Accedere,"="to  encounter,"  is  properly  used  of  any  thing  dan- 
gerous.   Cf.  Burm.    B. 


B.  I.  206—240.  JEXEID.  Ill 

is  allowed  once  more  to  rise.  Persevere,  and  reserve  yourselves 
for  prosperous  days.  So  he  says  in  words  ;  and  oppressed  with 
heavy  cares,  wears  the  looks  of  hope,  buries  deep  anguish  in 
his  breast. 

They  address  themselves  to  the  spoil  and  future  feast ;  tear 
the  skin  from  the  ribs,  and  lay  the  flesh  bare.  Some  cut  into 
parts,  and  fix  on  spits  the  quivering  limbs ;  others  place  the 
brazen  caldrons  on  the  shore,  and  prepare  the  fires.  Then  they 
repair  their  strength  with  food,  and,  stretched  along  the  grass, 
regale  themselves  with  old  wine  and  fat  venison.  After  hunger 
was  taken  away  by  banquets,  and  the  viands  removed,  in  long 
discourse  they  inquire  after  their  lost  companions,  in  suspense 
between  hope  and  fear,  whether  to  believe  them  yet  alive,  or 
that  they  have  finished  their  destiny,  and  no  longer  hear  when 
called.  Above  the  rest,  the  pious  /flneas,  within  himself,  be- 
moans now  the  loss  of  the  active  Orontes,  now  of  Amycus,  and 
then  the  cruel  fete  of  Lycus,  with  valiant  Gyas,  and  valiant 
Cloanthus. 

And  now  there  was  an  end  [of  discourse] ;  when  Jove, 
looking  down  from  the  lofty  sky  upon  the  sail-flown  sea,  and 
the  lands  lying  at  rest,  with  the  shores  and  the  nations  dis- 
persed abroad ;  thus  stood  on  the  pinnacle  of  heaven,  and 
fixed  his  eyes  on  Libya's  realms.  To  him,  revolving  such 
cares  in  his  mind,  Venus,  in  mournful  mood,  her  bright  eyes 
bedirnmed  with  tears  addresses  herself:  O  thou,  who  with  eter- 
nal sway  rulest,  and  with  thy  thunder  overawest,  the  affairs  of 
both  gods  and  men,  what  so  high  offense  against  thee  could 
my  ^Eneas  or  the  Trojans  be  guilty  of,  that,  after  having  suf- 
fered so  many  deaths,  they  must  be  shut  out  from  all  the  world 
on  account  of  Italy  ?  Surely  you  promised,  that  in  some  future 
age,  after  circling  years,  the  Romans  should  descend  from 
them,  powerful  leaders  spring  from  the  blood  of  Teucer"  re- 
stored, who  should  rule  the  sea,  the  nations  with  absolute 
sway.  Father !  why  is  thy  purpose  changed  ?  I,  indeed,  was 
solacing  myself  with  this  promise  under  Troy's  fall  and  sad 
ruin,  with  fates  balancing  contrary  fates.  Now  the  same 
fortune  still  pursues  them,  after  they  have  been  driven  with 
such  variety  of  woes.  Great  king,  what  end  to  their  labors 

37  Teucer,  a  king  of  Phrygia,  son  of  Scamander.  Troy  was  called 
from  him  Teucria,  and  the  Trojans  Teucri. 


112  ^ENELD.  B.  I.  241— 270. 

wilt  thou  give  ?"  Antenor,  escaped  from  amidst  the  Greeks, 
could  with  safety  penetrate  the  Illyrian  gulf,  and  the  inmost 
realms  of  Liburnia,3'  and  overpass  the  springs  of  Timavus ; 
whence,  through  nine  mouths,  with  loud  echoing  from  the 
mountain,  it  bursts  away  a  sea  impetuous,  and  sweeps  the  fields 
with  a  roaring  deluge.  Yet  there  he  built  the  city  of  Padua,40 
established  a  Trojan  settlement,  gave  the  nation  a  name,  and 
set  up  the  arms  of  Troy.  Now  in  calm  peace  composed  he 
rests :  we,  thy  own  progeny,  whom  thou  by  thy  nod  ordainest 
the  throne  of  heaven,  (oh  woe  unutterable  !)  having  lost  our 
ships,  are  betrayed,  driven  hither  and  thither  far  from  the  Italian 
coast,  to  gratify  the  malice  of  one.  Are  these  the  honors  of 
piety  ?  is  it  thus  thou  replacest  us  on  the  throne  ? 

The  sire  of  gods  and  men,  smiling  upon  her  with  that  as- 
pect wherewith  he  clears  the  tempestuous  sky,  gently  kissed 
his  daughter's  lips ;  then  thus  replies ;  Cytherea,41  cease  from 
fear :  immovable  to  thee  remain  the  fates  of  thy  people. 
Thou  shalt  see  the  city  and  promised  walls  of  Lavinium,  and 
shalt  raise  magnanimous  ^Eneas  aloft  to  the  stars  of  heaven ; 
nor  is  my  purpose  changed.  In  Italy  he  (for.I  will  tell  thee, 
since  this  care  lies  gnawing  at  thy  heart,  and  tracing  further 
back,  I  will  reveal  the  secrets  of  fate)  shall  wage  a  mighty  war, 
crush  a  stubborn  nation,  and  establish  laws  and  cities  to  his 
people,  till  the  third  summer  shall  see  him  reigning  in  Latium, 
and  three  winters  pass  after  he  has  subdued  the  Rutulians." 
But  the  boy  Ascanius,"  who  has  now  the  surname  of  lulus 
(Dus  he  was,  while  the  empire  of  Hium  flourished),  shall  meas- 
ure with  his  reign  full  thirty  great  circles  of  revolving  months, 
transfer  the  seat  of  his  empire  from  Lavinium,  and  strongly 

38  Eur.  Alcest.  214,  i£>  Zei),  rlq  av  •KU.  Tropof  KCLKUV  TKVOITO,  nal  Mate 


39  Liburnia  (Croatia),  a  province  of  Illyria,  at  the  head  of  the  Adri- 
atic. 

40  Padua,  a  city  of  Italy,  celebrated  as  the  birth-place  of  Livy. 

41  Cytherea,  a  surname  of  Venus,  from  Cythera  (Cerigo),  an  island  on 
the  southern  coast  of  Laconia  in  Peloponnesus,  which  was  sacred  to  her. 

42  Rutulians,  a  people  of  Latium,   anciently  known,  as  well  as  the 
Latins,  by  the  name  of  Aborigines.     They  supported  Turnus  their  king 
in  the  war  which  he  waged  against  ^Eneas. 

43  Ascanius,  called  also  lulus,  was  the  son  of  JEneas  by  Creusa;  ho 
accompanied  his  father  to   Italy,   succeeded  him   in  the  kingdom  of 
Latinus,  and  built  the  city  of  Alba  Longa. 


B.  I.  271— 299.  ^INEID.  113 

fortify  Alba  Longa.  Here  again,  for  full  three  hundred  years, 
the  scepter  shall  be  swayed  by  Hector's  line,  until  Ilia,44  a 
royal  priestess,  impregnated  by  Mars,  shall  bear  two  infants 
at  a  birth.  Then  Romulus,  exulting  in  the  tawny  hide  of  the 
wolf  his  nurse,  shall  take  upon  him  the  rule  of  the  nation, 
build  a-city  sacred  to  Mars,  and  from  his  own  name  call  the 
people  Romans.  To  them  I  fix  neither  limits  nor  duration  of 
empire  ;  dominion  have  I  given  them  without  end.  And  even 
sullen  Juno,  who  now,  through  jealous  fear,  creates  endless 
disturbance  to  sea,  and  earth,  and  heaven,  shall  change  her 
counsels  for  the  better,  and  join  with  me  in  befriending  the 
Romans,  lords  of  the  world,  and  the  nation  of  the  gown.  Such 
is  my  pleasure.  An  age  shall  come,  after  a  course  of  years, 
when  the  house  of  Assaracus  shall  bring  under  subjection 
Phthia45' and  renowned  MycenaB,  and  reign  over  vanquished 
Argos.  A  Trojan  shall  be  born  of  illustrious  race,  Caesar, 
who  shall  bound  his  empire  by  the  ocean,  his  fame  by  the 
stars,  Julius  his  name,  from  great  lulus  derived.  Him,  loaded 
with  the  spoils  of  the  East,  you  shall  receive  to  heaven  at 
length,  having  seen  an  end  of  all  your  cares  :  he  too  shall  be 
invoke  1  by  vows  and  prayers.  Then,  wars  having  ceased, 
fierce  nations  shall  soften  into  peace.  Hoary  Faith,  Vesta, 
and  Quirinus,4'  with  his  brother  Remus,  shall  administer  jus- 
tice. The  dreadful  gates  of  war47  shall  be  shut  with  close 
bolts  of  iron.  Within  impious  Fury,  sitting  on  horrid  arms, 
and  his  hands  bound  behind  him  with  a  hundred  brazen  chains, 
in  hideous  rage  shall  gnash  his  bloody  jaws. 

He  said,  and  from  on  high  sent  down  Maia's  son,48  that  the 
coasts  of  Libya  and  the  new  towers  of  Carthage  might  be  open 
hospitably  to  receive  the  Trojans ;  lest  Dido,49  ignorant  of  heav- 
en's decree,  should  shut  them  out  from  her  ports.  He,  on  the 

44  Ilia,  or  Rhea,  priestess  of  Vesta,  was  a  daughter  of  Numitor,  king 
of  Alba,  and  the  mother  of  Romulus  and  Remus  by  Mars. 

45  Phthia,  a  city  of  Thessaly,  celebrated  as  the  birth-place  of  Achilles ; 
it  gave  name  to  the  surrounding  district. 

46  Quirinus,  a  name  given  to  Romulus,  after  he  was  deified. 

47  i.  e.  of  Janus.     War  is  here  personified. 

48  Maia's  son ;  Mercury,  a  celebrated  god  of  antiquity,  the  son  of  Ju- 
piter and  Maia ;  he  was  the  messenger  of  the  gods,  and  of  Jupiter  in 
particular. 

48  Dido,  called  afso  Elisa,  the  daughter  of  Belus  king  of  Tyre,  and 
the  wife  of  Sichaeus,  whom  her  brother  Pygmalion  murdered  for  his 


.*' 


114  jENEID.  B.  I.  300—332, 

steerage  of  his  wings,  fiit-s  through  the  expanded  sky,  and 
speedily  alighted  on  the  coasts  of  Libya.  And  now  he  puts 
his  orders  in  execution  ;  and,  at  the  will  of  the  god,  the  Car- 
thagenians  lay  aside  the  fierceness  of  their  hearts  :  the  queen, 
especially,  entertains  thoughts  of  peace,  and  a  benevolent  dis- 
position toward  the  Trojans. 

But  pious  ^Eneas,  by  night  revolving  many  things,  resolved 
as  soon  as  cheerful  day  arose,  to  set  out,  and  to  reconnoiter 
the  unknown  country,  on  what  coasts  he  was  driven  by  the 
wind ;  who  are  the  inhabitants,  whether  men  or  wild  beasts, 
(for  he  sees  nothing  but  uncultivated  grounds),  and  inform 
his  friends  of  his  discoveries.  Within  a  winding  grove,  under 
a  hollow  rock,  he  secretly  disposed  his  fleet,  fenced  round  with 
trees  and  gloomy  shades  :  himself  marches  forth,  attended  by 
Achates  alone,  brandishing  in  his  hand  two  javelins  of  broad- 
pointed  steel.  To  whom,  in  the  midst  of  a  wood,  his  mother 
presents  herself,  wearing  the  mien  and  attire  of  a  virgin,  and 
the  arms  of  a  Spartan  maid ;  or  resembling  Thracian  Harpa- 
lyce,60  when  she  tires  her  steeds,  and  in  her  course  outflies  the 
swift  Hebrus  :  for,  huntress-like,  she  had  hung  from  her 
shoulders  a  light  bow,  and  suffered  her  hair  to  wanton  in  the 
wind  ;  bare  to  the  knee,  with  her  flowing  robes  gathered  in  a 
knot.  Then  first,  Pray,  youths,  she  says,  inform  me  if  by 
chance  ye  have  seen  any  of  my  sisters  wandering  this  way, 
equipped  with  a  quiver,  and  the  skin  of  a  spotted  lynx,  or  with 
full  cry  urging  the  chase  of  a  foaming  boar.  Thus  Venus,  and 
thus  Venus'  son  replied :  Of  your  sisters  not  one  has  been 
heard  or  seen  by  me.  O  virgin,  by  what  name  shall  I  address 
thee  ?  for  thou  wearest  not  the  looks  of  a  mortal,  nor  sounds 
thy  voice  human.  0  thou  a  goddess  surely  !  Are  you  the  sister 
of  Phoebus,  or  one  of  the  race  of  the  nymphs  ?  O !  be  propi- 
tious, and  whoever  you  are,  ease  our  anxious  minds,  and  in- 
form us  under  what  climate,  on  what  region  of  the  globe,  we 
at  length  are  thrown.  We  wander  strangers  both  to  the 
country  and  the  inhabitants,  driven  upon  this  coast  by  furious 
winds  and  swelling  seas.  So  shall  many  a  victim  fall  a  sacri- 

riches.     Dido  was  the  founder  of  the  city  of  Carthage,  where  she  hos- 
pitably entertained  ^Eneas,  who  had  been  shipwrecked  upon  the  coast 
50  Harpalyce,  a  daughter  of  Harpalycus,  king  of  Thrace,  a  woman  of 
the  most  undaunted  courage.  • 


'.* 


B.  i.  333— 368.  JBNEID.  115 

fice  at  thine  altars  by  our  right  hand.  Then  Venus :  I,  indeed, 
deem  not  myself  worthy  of  such  honor.  It  is  the  custom  for 
the  Tyrian  virgins  to  wear  a  quiver,  and  bind  the  leg  thus 
high  with  a  purple  buskin.  You  see  the  kingdom  of  Car- 
thage, a  Tyrian  people,  and  Agenor's  city."  But  the  country 
is  that  of  Libya,  a  race  invincible  in  war.  The  kingdom  is 
ruled  by  Dido,  who  fled  hither  from  Tyre,  to  shun  her  bro- 
ther's hate ;  tedious  is  the  relation  of  her  wrongs,  and  intri- 
cate the  circumstances  ;  but  I  shall  trace  the  principal  heads." 
Her  husband  was  SichaBus,  the  richest  of  the  Phoenicians  in 
land,  and  passionately  beloved  by  his  unhappy  spouse.  Her 
father  had  given  her  to  him  in  her  virgin  bloom,  and  joined 
her  in  wedlock  with  the  first  connubial  rites  :  but  her  brother 
Pygmalion  then  possessed  the  throne  of  Tyre ;  atrociously 
wicked  beyond  all  mortals.  Between  them  hatred  arose. 
He,  impious,  and  blinded  with  the  love  of  gold,  having  taken 
Sichseus  by  surprise,  secretly  assassinates  him  before  the 
altar,  regardless  of  his  sister's  great  affection.  Long  he  kept 
the  deed  concealed,  and  wicked,  forging  many  lies,  amused  the 
heart-sick,  loving  [queen]  with  vain  hope.  But  the  ghost  of 
her  unburied  husband  appeard  to  her  in  a  dream,  lifting  up 
his  visage  amazingly  pale  and  ghastly  :  he  opened  to  her  view 
the  bloody  altars,  and  his  breast  transfixed  with  the  sword, 
and  detected  all  the  hidden  villainy  of  the  house  ;  then  exhorts 
her  to  hasten  flight,  and  quit  her  native  country ;  and,  to  aid 
her  flight,  reveals  treasures  ancient  in  the  earth,  an  unknown 
mass  of  gold  and  silver.  Dido,  roused  by  this  awful  mes- 
senger, provided  friends,  and  prepared  to  fly.  They  assem- 
ble, who  either  had  mortal  hatred  or  violent  dread  of  the 
tyrant ;  what  ships  by  chance  are  ready,  they  seize  in  haste, 
and  load  with  gold.  The  wealth  of  the  covetous  Pygmalion 
is  conveyed  over  sea.  A  woman  is  guide  of  the  exploit. 
Thither  they  came,  where  now  you  will  see  the  stately  walls 
and  rising  towers  of  a  new-built  Carthage,  .and  bought  as 
much  ground  as  they  could  cover  with  a  bull's  hide,  called 
Byrsa,,53  in  commemoration  of  the  deed.  But  [say]  now,  who 

51  Agenor's  city ;  Carthage  is  so  called,  as  being  built  by  Dido,  who 
was  a  descendant  of  Agenor,  king  of  Phoenicia. 

i2  Literally,  "  the  chief  footsteps."    B. 

53  Byrsa  is  also  a  citadel  in  the  middle  of  Carthage,  on  which  was  the 
temple  of  JSsculapius. 


116  vENEID.  B.  I. 369— 400. 

are  you  ?  or  from  what  coasts  you  came,  or  whither  are  you 
bending  your  way  ?  To  these  her  demands,  the  hero,  with 
heavy  sighs,  and  slowly  raising  his  words  from  the  bottom  of 
his  breast,  [thus  replies,]  If  I,  O  goddess  !  tracing  from  their 
first  source,  shall  pursue,  and  you  have  leisure  to  hear,  the 
annals  of  our  woes,  the  evening  star  will  first  shut  heaven's 
gates  upon  the  expiring  day."  Driven  over  a  length  of  seas 
from  ancient  Troy  (if  the  name  of  Troy  hath  by  chance 
reached  your  ears),  a  tempest,  by  its  wonted  chance,  threw 
us  on  this  Libyan  coast.  I  am  ^Eneas  the  pious,  renowned 
by  fame  above  the  skies,  who  carry  with  me  in  my  fleet  the 
gods  I  snatched  away  from  the  enemy.  I  seek  my  country, 
Italy  ;  and  my  descendants  sprang  from  Jove  supreme.  With 
twice  ten  ships  I  embarked  on  the  Phrygian  Sea,  having  fol- 
lowed the  destinies  vouchsafed  me,  my  goddess-mother  point- 
ing out  the  way ;  seven,  with  much  ado,  are  saved,  torn  and 
shattered  by  waves  and  wind.  Myself,  a  stranger,  poor  and 
destitute,  wander  through  the  deserts  of  Africa,  banished  from 
Europe  and  from  Asia.  Venus,  unable  to  bear  his  further 
complaints,  thus  interrupted  in  the  midst  of  his  grief  :  Who- 
ever you  may  be,  I  trust  you  live"  not  unbefriended  by  the 
powers  of  heaven,  who  have  arrived  at  a  Tyrian  city.  But 
do  you  forthwith  bend  your  course  directly  to  the  palace  of 
the  queen ;  for,  that  your  friends  are  returned,  and  your  ships 
saved,  and  by  a  turn  of  the  north  wind  wafted  into  a  secure 
harbor,  I  pronounce  to  thee  with  assurance,  unless  my  pa- 
rents, fond  of  a  lying  art,  have  in  vain  taught  me  divination. 
See  these  twelve  swans  exulting  in  a  body,  whom  the  bird  of 
Jove,68  having  glided  from  the  ethereal  region,  was  chasing 
through  the  open  air  :  now,  in  a  long  train,  they  seem  either 
to  choose  their  ground,  or  to  hover  over  the  place  they  have 
already  chosen.  As  they,  returning,  sportive  clap  their 
rustling  wings,  wheel  about  the  heavens  in  a  troop,  and  raise 
their  melodious  notes  ;  just  so  your  ships  and  youthful  crew, 
either  are  possessed  of  the  harbor,  or  are  entering  the  poit 

64  See  Anthon.  Demosth.  de  Cor.  §  91,  l-i?.efyet  fie  teyovra  %  fi/Litpa 
T&  riJv  TrpodoTuv  ovofiara.  B. 

"  Ruhnk.  on  Xen.  Mem.  iv.  3,  8,  most  appositely  illustrates  the 
phrase,  "  auras  vitales  carpere,"  from  a  passage  of  ^Elian  in  Suidas,  KOI 
depof  airuv,  nal  IXCLV  Tpo$r)v  fw^f  TO  i£  avrov  irvevpa. 

**  Bird  of  Jove,  *.  e.,  the  eagle. 


B.  1.401— 434.  ^ENEID.  H7 

with  full  sail.  Proceed,  then,  and  pursue  your  way  where  this 
path  directs. 

She  said,  and  turning  away,  shone  radiant  with  her  rosy 
neck,  and  from  her  head  ambrosial  locks  breathed  divine  fra- 
grance :  her  robe  hung  flowing  to  the  ground,  and  by  her  gait 
the  goddess  stood  confessed.  The  hero,  soon  as  he  knew  his 
mother,  with  these  accents  pursued  her  as  she  fled :  Why  so 
oft  dost  thou  too  cruelly  mock  thy  son  with  vain  shapes? 
why  is  it  not  granted  me  to  join  my  hand  to  thine,  and  to  hear 
and  answer  thee  by  turns  in  words  sincere  and  undissembled  ? 
Thus  he  expostulates  with  her,  and  directs  his  course  to  the 
walls.  But  Venus  screened  them  on  their  way  with  dim 
clouds,  and  the  goddess  spread  around  them  a  thick  vail  of 
mist,  that  none  might  see,  or  touch,  or  cause  them  interrup- 
tion, or  inquire  into  the  reasons  of  their  coming.  She  herself 
wings  her  way  sublime  to  Paphos,  and  with  joy  revisits  her 
seats  ;  where,  sacred  to  her  honor,  is  a  temple,  and  a  hundred 
altars  smoke  with  Sabean  incense,  and  are  fragrant  with  fresh 
garlands. 

Meanwhile  they  urged  their  way  where  the  path  directs. 
And  now  they  were  ascending  the  hill  that  hangs  over  a  great 
part  of  the  town,  and  from  above  surveys  its  opposite  towers, 
./Eneas  admires  the  mass  of  buildings,  once  cottages  :"  he  ad- 
mires the  gates,  the  bustle,  and  the  paved  streets.  The  Tyri- 
ans  warmly  ply  the  work  :  some  extend  the  walls,  and  raise  a 
tower  to  push  along  unwieldy  stones ;  some  choose  out  the 
ground  for  a  private  building,  and  inclose  it  with  a  trench. 
Some  choose  [a  place  for]  the  courts  of  justice,  for  the  magis- 
trates' [halls]  and  the  venerable  senate.68  Here  some  are 
digging  ports ;  there  others  are  laying  the  foundations  for 
lofty  theaters,  and  hewing  huge  columns  from  the  rocks,  the 
lofty  decorations  of  future  scenes.  Such  their  toil  as  in  sum- 
mer's prime  employs  the  bees  amid  the  flowery  fields  under 
the  sun,  when  they  lead  forth  the  full-grown  swarms  of  their 
race,  or  when  they  press  close  the  liquid  honey,  and  distend 
the  cells  with  sweet  nectar  ;69  or  when  they  disburden  those 

67  i.  e.  "movable  huts."    See  Anthon. 

68  But  it  is  perhaps  better  to  regard  "legunt"  as  joined  with  "jura," 
by  a  zeugma,  in  this  sense ;  "  they  [institute]  laws,  and  choose  magis- 
trates."    B. 

av  vsKrapi,  Eur.  Bacch.  148. 


118  JSNEID.  B.  1. 434 — 467. 

that  come  home  loaded,  or  in  formed  battalion,  drive  the  in- 
active flock  of  drones  from  the  hives.  The  work  is  hotly 
plied,  and  the  fragrant  honey  smells  strongly  of  thyme.  O 
happy  ye,  whose  walls  now  rise  !  ^Eneas  says,  and  lifts  his 
eyes  to  the  turrets  of  the  city.  Shrouded  in  a  cloud  (a  marvel 
to  be  told  !)  he  passes  amid  the  multitude,  and  mingles  with 
the  throng,  nor  is  seen  by  any.80  In  the  center  of  the  city 
was  a  grove,  most  delightful  in  shade,  where  first  the  Cartha- 
ginians, driven  by  wind  and  wave,  dug  up  the  head  of  a 
sprightly  courser,  an  omen  which  royal  Juno  showed :  for 
by  this  [she  signified],  that  the  nation  was  to  be  renowned 
for  war,  brave  and  victorious  through  ages.  Here  Sidonian 
Dido  built  to  Juno  a  stately  temple,  enriched  with  gifts,  and 
the  presence  of  the  goddess ;  whose  brazen  threshold  rose  on 
steps,  the  beams  were  bound  with  brass,  and  the  hinge  creaked 
beneath  brazen  gates.  In  this  grove  the  view  of  an  unex- 
pected scene  first  abated  the  fear  [of  the  Trojans]  :  here 
^Eneas  first  dared  to  hope  for  redress,  and  to  conceive  better 
hopes  of  his  afflicted  state.  For  while  he  surveys  every  ob- 
ject in  the  spacious  temple,  waiting  the  queen's  arrival ;  while 
he  is  musing  with  wonder  on  the  fortune  of  the  city ;  and 
[compares]  the  skill  of  the  artists  and  their  elaborate  works, 
he  sees  the  Trojan  battles  [delineated]  in  order,  and  the  war 
now  known  by  fame  over  all  the  world  ;  the  sons  of  Atreus," 
Priam,"  and  Achilles  implacable  to  both.  He  stood  still ;  and, 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  What  place,  Achates,  what  country  on 
the  globe,  is  not  full  of  our  disaster  ?  See  Priam  !  even  here 
praiseworthy  deeds63  meet  with  due  reward :  here  are  tears 
for  misfortunes,  and  the  breasts  are  touched64  with  human 
woes.  Dismiss  your  fears  :  this  fame  of  ours  will  bring  thee 
some  relief.  Thus  he  speaks,  and  feeds  his  mind  with  the 
empty  representations,  heaving  many  a  sigh,  and  bathes  his 
visage  in  floods  of  tears.  For  he  beheld  how,  on  one  hand, 
the  warrior  Greeks  were  flying  round  the  wal^s  of  Troy,  while 
the  Trojan  youth  closely  pursued ;  on  the  other  hand,  the 

60  A  Grecism  for  "ab  ullo."  Ovid,  Trist.  v.  10,  38,  non  intelligor 
ulli."  B. 

81  Sons  of  Atreus,  Agamemnon  and  Menelaus. 

M  Priam,  the  son  of  Laomedon,  and  the  last  king  of  Troy,  was  slain  by 
Pyrrhus,  the  son  of  Achilles,  the  same  night  on  •which  Troy  was  taken. 

53  For  this  sense  of  "  laus,"  cf.  CatulL  Ixi.  102.  Cicer.  in  Verr.  §  47.    R 

*4  So  OavdvTuv  oMev  ul.yof  dTrrerai.     Soph.  (Ed.  C.  955.     B. 


B.  L  468—490.  yENEID.  119 

Trojans  [were  flying],- while  plumed  Achilles,  in  his  chariot, 
pressed  on  their  rear.  Not  far  from  that  scene,  weeping,  he 
espies  the  tents  of  Rhesus,65  with  their  snow-white  vails ; 
which,  betrayed  by  the  first  sleep,66  cruel  Diomede  plundered, 
drenched  in  much  blood,  and  led  away  his  fiery  steeds  to  the 
[Grecian]  camp,  before  they  had  tasted  the  pasture  of  Troy, 
or  drank  of  A^nthus.67  In  another  part,  Troilus,*8  flying 
after  the  loss  of  his  arms,  ill-fated  youth,  and  unequally 
matched  with  Achilles !  is  dragged  by  his  horses,  and  from 
the  empty  chariot  hangs  supine,  yet  grasping  the  reins ;  his 
neck  and  hair  trail  along  the  ground,  and  the  dusty  plain  is 
traced  by  the  inverted  spear.  Meanwhile  the  Trojan  matrons 
were  marching  to  the  temple  of  adverse  Pallas,  with  their 
hair  disheveled,  and  were  bearing  the  robe,  suppliantly  mourn- 
ful, and  beating  their  bosoms  with  their  hands.  The  goddess 
turned  away,  kept  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground.  Thrice  had 
Achilles  dragged  Hector  round  the  walls  of  Troy,  and  was 
selling  his  breathless  corpse  for  gold.  Then,  indeed,  ./Eneas 
sent  forth  a  deep  groan  from  the  bottom  of  his  breast,  when 
he  saw  the  spoils,  the  chariot,  and  the  very  body  of  his  friend, 
and  Priam  stretching  forth  his  feeble  hands.  Himself,  too,  he 
recognized  mingled  with  the  Grecian  leaders,  and  the  Eastern 
bands,  and  the  arms  of  swarthy  Memnon.69  Furious  Pen- 
thesilea70  leads  on  her  troops  of  Amazons,  with  their  crescent 

65  Rhesus,  a  warlike  king  of  Thrace,  who  marched  to  the  assistance  of 
Priam.  The  oracle  having  foretold  that  Troy  should  never  be  taken  if 
the  horses  of  Rhesus  drank  the  waters  of  Xanthus,  and  fed  upon  the 
grass  of  the  Trojan  plains ;  the  Greeks,  however,  surprised  him  on  the 
night  of  his  arrival,  slew  him  in  his  tent,  and  carried  away  his  horses  in 
triumph  to  then-  camp. 

68  "Primo  somno,  ut  graviorem  ostenderet  somnum."  SERVTOS. 
Sleep  is  poetically  said  to  have  betrayed  him,  because  he  was  surprised 
while  at  rest.  B. 

87  Xanthus  (Mendere),  a  river  of  Troas,  in  Asia  Minor,  rising  in  Mount 
Ida,  and  falling  into  the  sea  at  Sigaeum.  It  is  the  same  with  the  Sca- 
mander ;  according  to  Homer,  it  was  called  Xanthus  by  the  gods,  and 
Scamander  by  men. 

68  Troilus,  a  son  of  Priam  and  Hecuba,  slain  by  Achilles. 

68  Memnon,  a  king  of  Ethiopia,  son  of  Tithonus  and  Aurora.  He  came 
with  a  body  of  10,000  men  to  assist  his  uncle  Priam  in  the  Trojan  war, 
where  he  displayed  great  courage,  and  killed  Antilochus,  Nestor's  son, 
but  was  himself  afterward  slain  by  Achilles  in  single  combat. 

70  Penthesilea,  a  queen  of  the  Amazons,  daughter  of  Mars,  who  assisted 
Priam,  and  was  slain  by  Achilles. 


120  -<ENErD.  B.  i.  491—529. 

shields,  and  burns  amid  the  thickest  ranks.  Below  her  exposed 
breast  the  heroine  had  girt  a  golden  belt,  and  the  virgin  warrior 
dares  even  to  encounter  with  men. 

These  wondrous  scenes  while  the  Trojan  prince  surveys, 
while  he  is  lost  in  thought,  and  in  one  gaze  stands  unmoved ; 
Queen  Dido,  of  surpassing  beauty,  advanced  to  the  temple, 
attended  by  a  numerous  retinue  of  youth.  As  on  the  banks 
of  Eurotas,  or  on  Mount  Cynthus'  top,  Diana  leads  the  circu- 
lar dances,  round  whom  a  numerous  train  of  mountain  nymphs 
play  in  rings;  she  bears  her  quiver  on  her  shoulder,  and 
moving  majestic,  she  towers  above  the  other  goddesses,  while 
silent  raptures  thrill  Latona's71  bosom ;  such  Dido  was,  and 
such,  with  cheerful  grace,  she  passed  amid  her  train,  urging 
forward  the  labor  and  her  future  kingdom.  Then  at  the 
gate  of  the  goddess,  in  the  middle  of  the  temple's  dome,  she 
took  her  seat,  surrounded  with  her  guards,  and  raised  aloft  on 
a  throne.  [Here]  she  dispensed  justice  and  laws  to  her  sub- 
jects, and,  in  equal  portions,  distributed  their  tasks,  or  settled 
them  by  lot ;  when  suddenly  .JSneas  sees,  advancing  with  a 
vast  concourse,  Antheus,  Sergestus,  brave  Cloanthus,  and  other 
Trojans,  whom  a  black  storm  had  tossed  up  and  down  the  sea, 
and  driven  to  other  far-distant  shores.  At  once  he  was 
amazed,  at  once  Achates  was  struck,  and  between  joy  and  fear 
both  ardently  longed  to  join  hands ;  but  the  uncertainty  of  the 
event  perplexes  their  minds.  They  carry  on  their  disguise, 
and,  shrouded  under  the  bending  cloud,  watch  to  learn  the  for- 
tune of  their  friends  ;  on  what  coast  they  left  the  fleet,  and  on 
what  errand  they  came :  for  a  select  number  had  come  from  all 
the  ^hips  to  sue  for  grace,  and,  with  mingled  voices,  approached 
the  temple. 

Having  gained  admission  and  liberty  to  speak  in  the  presence, 
Ilioneus  their  chief,  with  mind  composed,  thus  began :  O 
queen,  to  whom  Jove  has  granted  to  found  this  rising  city, 
and  to  curb  proud  nations  with  just  laws,  we  Trojans  forlorn, 
tossed  by  winds  over  every  sea,  implore  thee  :  keep  from  OUT 
ships  the.  merciless  flames ;  spare  a  pious  race,  and  propitiously 
regard  our  distresses.  We  are  not  come  either  to  ravage  with 
the  sword  the  Libyan  abodes,  or  to  seize  and  bear  away  the  plun- 
der to  our  ships.  We  have  no  such  hostile  intention,  nor  does 
such  pride  of  heart  become  the  vanquished.  There  is  a  place 

71  Latona,  the  mother  of  Apollo  and  Diana. 


6.  i.  530—560.  J5NEID,  121 

called  by  the  Greeks  Hesperia,™  an  ancient  land,  renowned 
for  martial  .deeds  and  fruitful  soil ;  the  CEnotrians"  possessed 
it  once :  now  fame  is  that  their  descendants  call  the  nation 
Italy,  from  their  leader's  name ;  hither  our  course  was  bent, 
when  suddenly  tempestuous  Orion74  rising  from  the  main, 
drove  us  on  hidden  shallows,  and  with  southern  blasts  fiercely 
sporting,  tossed  us  hither  and  thither  over  waves,  and  over  path- 
less rocks,  overwhelmed  by  the  briny  deep :  hither  we  few  have 
floated"  to  your  coasts.  What  a  race  of  men  is  this  ?  what 
country  so  barbarous  to  allow  such  manners  ?  We  are  denied 
the  hospitality  of  the  shore.  In  anus  they  rise,  and  forbid  our 
setting  foot  on  the  first  verge  of  land.  If  you  set  at  nought  the 
human  kind,  and  the  arms  of  mortals,  yet  know  the  gods  have 
a  mindful  regard  to  right  and  wrong.  We  had  for  our  king 
^Eneas,  than  whom  no  one  was  more  just  in  piety,  none  more 
signalized  in  war  and  in  martial  achievements ;  whom,  if  the 
Fates  preserve,  if  he  breathe  the  vital  air,  and  do  not  yet  rest 
with  the  ruthless  shades,  neither  shall  we  despair,  nor  you  re- 
pent your  having  been  the  first  in  challenging  to  acts  of  kind- 
ness. We  have  likewise  cities  and  arms  in  Sicily,  and  the  illus- 
trious Acestes  is  of  Trojan  extraction.  Permit  us  to  bring  to 
shore  our  wind-beaten  fleet,  and  from  your  woods  to  choose 
[trees  for]  planks,  and  to  refit  our  oars ;  that,  if  it  be  granted 
to  bend  our  course  to  Italy,  upon  the  recovery  of  our  prince  and 
friends,  we  may  joyfully  set  out  thither,  and  make  the  Latian 
shore.  But  if  our  safety  has  perished,  and  thou,  O  father  of  the 
Trojans,  the  best  of  men  !  now  liest  buried  in  the  Libyan  sea, 
and  no  further  hope  of  lulus  remains,  we  may  at  least  repair  to 
the  straits  of  Sicily,  and  the  settlement  there  prepared  for  us 
(whence  we  were  driven  hither),  and  visit  king  Acestes.  So 
spoke  Eioneus  ;  at  the  same  time,  the  others  Trojans  murmured 
their  consent 

72  Hesperia,  a  name  applied  to  Italy  by  the  Greeks,  and  to  Spain  by 
the  Romans. 

73  (Enotrians,  the  inhabitants  of  CEnotria,  or  that  part  of  Italy  which 
was  afterward  called  Lucania.    (Enotria  is  sometimes  applied  to  Italy 
in  general. 

74  Orion,  one  of  the  constellations,  generally  supposed  to  be  accom- 
panied at  its  rising  (in  March),  with  great  storms  and  rains. 

75  "Adnavimus"  is  employed  to  show  that  they  had  a  bare  escape. 
So  "vix  enatavimus,"  Apul.  Met.  il  p.  30;  ijevjjl-dpeda,  Lucian,  Ver. 
Hist  iL  and  de  Merc.  Cond.     B. 

6 


122  ^ENEID.  B.  i.  561—594. 

Then  Dido,  with  downcast  looks,  thus  in  brief  replies :  Tnx 
jans,  banish  fear  from  your  breasts,  lay  your  cares  aside.  My 
hard  fate,  and  the  infancy  of  my  kingdom,  force  me  to  take  such 
measures  and  to  secure  my  frontiers  with  guards  around.  AVho 
is  stranger  to  the  ^Eneiau  race,  the  city  of  Troy,  her  heroes,  and 
their  valorous  deeds,  and  to  the  devastations  of  so  renowned  a 
war  ?  We  Carthaginians  do  not  possess  hearts  that  are  so  ob- 
durate and  insensible,  nor  yokes  the  sun  his  steeds  so  far  away 
from  our  Tyrian  city.  Whether  Hesperia  the  greater,  and  the 
country  where  Saturn  reigned,  or  ye  choose  [to  visit]  Eryx'78 
coast  and  king  Acestes,  I  will  dismiss  you  safe  with  assistance, 
and  support  you  with  my  wealth.  Or  will  you  settle  with  me 
in  this  realm  ?  The  city  which  I  am  building  shall  be  yours :" 
draw  your  ships  ashore  ;  Trojan  and  Tyrkin  shall  be  treated  by 
me  with  no  distinction.78  And  would  that  your  prince  ^Eneas 
too  were  here,  driven  by  the  same  wind  !  However,  I  will  send 
trusty  messengers  along  the  coasts,  with  order  to  search  Libya's 
utmost  bounds,  if  he  is  thrown  out  to  wander  in  some  wood  or 
city. 

Animated  by  these  words,  brave  Achates  and  father  ^Eneas 
had  long  impatiently  desired  to  break  from  the  cloud.  Achates 
first  addressed  /flneas :  Goddess-born,  what  purpose  now 
arises  in  your  mind  ?  You  see  all  is  safe ;  your  fleet  and 
friends  restored.  One  alone  is  missing,  whom  we  ourselves 
beheld  sunk  in  the  midst  of  the  waves  :  every  thing  else  agrees 
with  your  mother's  prediction.  He  had  scarcely  spoken,  when 
suddenly  the  circumambient  cloud  splits  asunder,  and  dissolves 
into  open  air.  ^Eneas  stood  forth,  and  in  the  clear  light  shone 
conspicuous,  in  countenance  and  form  resembling  a  god :  for 
Venus  herself  had  breathed  upon  her  son  graceful  locks,  and 
the  radiant  bloom  of  youth,  and  breathed  a  sprightly  luster 
on  his  eyes :  such  beauty  as  the  hand  superadds  to  ivory, 
or  where  silver  or  Parian  marble  is  enchased  with  yellow 
gold. 

Then  suddenly  addressing  the  queen,  he,  to  the  surprise  of 

78  Eryx,  a  king  of  Sicily,  son  of  Butes  and  Venus;  also  a  town  and 
mountain  of  Sicily,  near  Drepanum.  On  the  summit  of  Mount  Eryx 
(Giuliano)  stood  a  famous  temple  of  Venus,  who  is  hence  called  Erycina. 

71  A  common  construction.  Cf.  Ter.  Eun.  iv.  3.  11.  Plaut.  Epid.  iii. 
4,  12.  B. 

78  Cf.  JEn.  x.  108,  "  Tros  Tyriusve  fuat,  nullo  discrimine  habebo."     B. 


B.  I.  595 — 629.  ^NEID.  123 

all,79  thus  begins :  I,  whom  you  seek,  am  present  before  you  ; 
Trojan  ./Eneas,  snatched  from  the  Libyan  waves.  0  thou,  who 
alone  hast  commisserated  Troy's  unutterable  calamities  !  who 
in  thy  town  and  palace  dost  associate  us,  a  remnant  saved  from 
the  ^Greeks,  who  have  now  been  worn  out  by  woes  in  every 
shape,  both  by  sea  and  land,  and  are  in  want  of  all  things !  to 
repay  thee  due  thanks,  great  queen,  exceeds  the  power  not 
only  of  us,  but  of  all  the  Dardan  race,80  wherever  dispersed 
over  the  world.  The  gods  (if  any  powers  divine  regard  the 
pious,  if  justice  any  where  exists,  and  a  mind  conscious  of  its 
own  virtue)  shall  yield  thee  a  just  recompense.  What  age 
was  so  happy  as  to  produce  thee  ?  who  were  the  parents  of 
so  illustrious  an  offspring  ?  While  rivers  run  into  the  sea, 
while  shadows  move  round  the  convex  mountains,  while 
heaven  feeds  the  stars ;  your  honor,  name,  and  praise  [with  me] 
shall  ever  live,  to  whatever  climes  I  am  called.  This  said,  he 
embraces  his  friend  Ilioneus  with  his  right  hand,  and  Serestus 
with  his  left :  then  the  rest,  the  heroic  Gyas,  and  heroic  Cloan- 
thus. 

Sidonian  Dido  stood  astonished,  first  at  the  presence  of  the 
hero,  then  at  his  signal  sufferings  and  thus  her  speech  ad- 
dressed :  What  hard  fate,  O  goddess-born,  pursues  thee 
through  such  mighty  dangers  !  what  power  drives  thee  on 
this  barbarous  coast  ?  Are  you  that  ^Eneas,  whom,  by 
Phrygian  Simois'  stream,  fair  Venus  bore  to  Trojan  Anchises  ? 
and  now,  indeed,  I  call  to  mind  that  Teucer,  expelled  from  his 
native  country,  came  to  Sidon  in  quest  of  a  new  kingdom, 
by  the  aid  of  Belus.  My  father  Belus  then  reaped  the  soil  of 
wealthy  Cyprus,81  and  held  it  in  subjection  to  his  victorious 
arms.  Ever  since  that  time  I  have  been  acquainted  with  the 
fate  of  Troy,  with  your  name,  and  the  Grecian  kings.  The 
enemy  himself  extolled  the  Trojans  with  distinguished  praise, 
and  with  pleasure  traced  his  descent  from  the  ancient  Trojan 
race.  Come  then,  youths,  enter  our  walls.  Me,  too,  through 
a  series  of  labors  tossed,  a  like  fortune  has  at  length  doomed 

79  Mamertinus  Pan.  Jul.  vi.  §  3,  "  In  medio  IHyrici  sinus  improvisus 
apparuit."     " Improvisus" ="de  improvise,"  "unexpectedly."    B. 

80  Dardan  race ;  the  Trojans,  as  descended  from  Dardanus,  the  son  of 
Jupiter  and  Electro,  who  fled  to  Asia  Minor,  where  he  built  the  city  of 
Dardania,  and  became  the  founder  of  the  kingdom  of  Troy. 

81  Cyprus,  a  large  and  fertile  island  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea,  sacred  to  Venus,  who  had  here  two  celebrated  temples. 


124  JENEID.  B.  L  630—661. 

to  settle  in  this  land.  Not  unacquainted  with  misfortune 
[in  my  own  person],  I  have  learned  to  succor  the  dis- 
tressed. 

This  said,  she  forthwith  leads  ^Eneas  into  the  royal  apart- 
ments, and  at  the  same  time  ordains  due  honors  for  the  tem- 
ples of  the  gods.  Meanwhile,  with  no  less  care,  she  sends 
presents  to  his  companions  on  the  shore,  twenty  bulls,  a  hun- 
dred bristly  backs  of  huge  boars,  a  hundred  fat  lambs,  with 
the  ewes,  as  gifts  and  pleasure  for  the  day.85  But  the  inner 
rooms  are  splendidly  furnished  with  regal  pomp,  and  banquets 
are  prepared  in  the  middle  of  the  hall.  Couch  draperies 
wrought  with  art,  and  of  proud  purple  :  massy  silver  plate  on 
the  table,  and,  embossed  in  gold,  the  brave  exploits  of  her 
ancestors,  a  lengthened  series  of  history  traced  down  through 
so  many  heroes,  from  the  first  founder  of  the  ancient  race. 
,/Eueas  (for  paternal  affection  suffered  not  his  mind  to  rest) 
with  speed  sends  on  Achates  to  the  ships,  to  bear  those  tidings 
to  Ascanius,  and  bring  [the  boy]  himself  to  the  city.  All  the 
care  of  the  fond  parent  centers  in  Ascanius.  Besides,  he  bids 
him  bring  presents,  saved  from  the  ruins  of  Troy,  a  mantle  stiff 
with  gold  and  figures,«and  a  vail  woven  round  with  saffron- 
colored  acanthus,  the  ornaments  of  Grecian  Helen,83  which  she 
had  brought  with  her  from  Mycenae,  when  bound  for  Troy,  and 
lawless  nuptials ;  her  mother  Leda's  wondrous  gift ;  a  scepter, 
too,  which  once  Ilione,  Priam's  eldest  daughter,  bore,  a  neck- 
lace strung  with  pearl,  and  a  crown  set  with  double  rows  of 
gems  and  gold.  This  message  to  dispatch,  Achates  directed  his 
course  to  the  ships. 

But  Venus  revolves  in  her  breast  new  plots,  new  designs ; 
that  Cupid84  should  come  in  place  of  sweet  Ascanius,  assum- 
ing his  mean  and  features,  and  by  the  gifts  kindle  in  the  queen 
all  the  rage  of  love,  and  enwrap  the  flame  in  her  very  bones ; 
for  she  dreads  the  equivocating  race,  and  the  double-tongued 

M  The  readings  vary  between  "die,"  "dii,"  and  "dei"  See  Serviua. 
I  have,  with  "Wagner,  preferred  "dii,"  which  has  the  additional  authority 
of  Gellius,  ix.  14.  B.  ..  4-  • 

8S  Helen,  the  wife  of  Menelaus,  king  of  Sparta,  was  the  most  beautiful 
woman  of  her  age.  In  the  absence  of  her  husband,  Paris,  son  of  king 
Priam,  carried  her  away,  which  was  the  cause  of  the  ten  years'  war 
against  Troy,  and  the  destruction  of  that  celebrated  city. 

84  Cupid,  in  the  heathen  mythology,  was  the  god  of  love,  and  the  eon 
of  Yenua. 


B.  i.  662—701.  ^NEID.  125 

Tyrians.  Fell  Juno  torments  her,  and  with  the  night  her  care 
returns.  To  winged  Love,  therefore,  she  addresses  these 
words  :  O  son,  my  strength,  my  mighty  power ;  my  son,  who 
alone  defiest  the  Typhcean  bolts  of  Jove  supreme,  to  thee  I 
fly,  and  suppliant  implore  thy  deity.  'T  is  known  to  thee  how 
round  all  shores  thy  brother  _^Eneas  is  tossed  from  sea  to 
sea,  by  the  spite  of  partial  Juno,  and  in  my  grief  thou  hast 
often  grieved.  Him  Phoenician  Dido  entertains,  and  amuses 
with  smooth  speech ;  and  I  fear  what  may  be  the  issue  of 
Juno's  acts  of  hospitality  :  she  will  not  be  idle  in  so  critical 
a  conjuncture ;  wherefore,  I  propose  to  prevent  the  queen  by 
subtle  means,  and  to  beset  her  with  the  flames  of  love,  that 
no  power  may  influence  her  to  change,  but  that  with  me  she 
may  be  possessed  by  great  fondness  for  ^neas.  How  this 
thou  mayest  effect,  now  hear  my  plan.  The  royal  boy,  my 
chief  care,  at  his  father's  call,  prepares  to  visit  the  Sidonian 
city,  bearing  presents  saved  from  the  sea  and  flames  of  Troy. 
Him  having  lulled  to  rest,  I  will  lay  down  in  some  sacred  re^ 
treat  on  Cythera's  tops,  or  above  Idalium,**  lest  he  should 
discover  the  plot,  or  interfere  with  it.  Do  you  artfully  coun- 
terfeit his  face  but  for  one  night,  and,  yourself  a  boy,  assume 
a  boy's  familiar  looks ;  that  when  Dido  shall  take  thee  to  her 
bosom  in  the  height  of  her  joy,  amid  the  royal  feasts,  and 
Bacchus'  stream,  when  she  shall  give  thee  embraces  and  im- 
print sweet  kisses,  thou  mayest  breathe  into  her  the  secret 
flame,  and  by  stealth  convey  the  poison.  Love  obeys  the  dic- 
tates of  his  dear  mother,  and  lays  aside  his  wings,  and  joyful 
trips  along  in  the  gait  of  lulus.  Meanwhile  Venus  pours  the 
dews  of  balmy  sleep  on  Ascanius'  limbs,  and  in  her  bosom 
fondled,  conveys  him  to  Idalia's  lofty  groves,  where  soft  mar- 
joram, perfuming  the  air  with  flowers  and  fragrant  shade, 
clasps  him  round. 

Now,  in  obedience  to  his  instructions,  Cupid  went  along, 
and  bore  the  royal  presents  to  the  Tyrians,  pleased  with 
Achates  for  his  guide.  By  the  time  he  arrived,  the  queen 
had  placed  herself  on  a  golden  couch,  under  a  rich  canopy, 
and  had  taken  her  seat  in  the  middle.  Now  father  ^Eneas, 
and  now  the  Trojan  youth,  join  the  assembly,  and  couch  them- 
selves on  the  strawn  purple.  The  attendants  supply  water 

96  Idalium  (Dalin),  a  town  of  Cyprus,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Idalus, 
with  a  grove  sacred  to  Venus,  who  was  hence  called  Idalia, 


126  ^NEID.  B.  i.  701—731. 

for  the  hands,  dispense  the  gifts  of  Ceres  from  baskets,  and 
furnish  them  with  the  smooth-shorn  towels.  Within  are  fifty 
handmaids,  whose  task  it  was  to  prepare  provisions  in  due 
order,  and  do  honor"  to  the  household  gods.  A  hundred 
more,  and  as  many  servants  of  equal  age,  are  employed  to 
load  the  boards  with  dishes,  and  place  the  cups.  In  like 
manner  the  Tyrians,  a  numerous  train,  assembled  in  the  joy- 
ful courts,  invited  to  recline  on  the  embroidered  beds.  They 
view  with  wonder  the  presents  of  ^Eneas  :  nor  with  less 
wonder  do  they  view  lulus,  the  glowing  aspect  of  the  god, 
his  well-dissembled  words,  the  mantle  and  vail  figured  with 
leaves  of  the  acanthus  in  saffron  colors.  Chiefly  the  unhap- 
py queen,  henceforth  devoted  to  love's  pestilential  influence, 
can  not  satisfy  her  feelings,  and  is  inflamed  with  every 
glance,  and  is  equally  moved  by  the  boy  and  by  his  gifts.  He 
on  JEneas'  neck  having  hung  with  embraces,  and  having  fully 
gratified  his  fictitious  father's  ardent  affections,  makes  for87 
the  queen.  She  clings  to  him  with  her  eyes,  her  whole  soul, 
and  sometimes  fondles  him  in  her  lap,  Dido  not  thinking  what 
a  powerful  god  is  settling  on  her,  hapless  one.  Meanwhile 
he,  mindful  of  his  Acidalian  mother,  begins  insensibly  to  ef- 
face the  memory  of  Sichaeus,  and  with  a  living  flame  tries  to 
prepossess  her  languid  affections,  and  her  heart,  chilled  by  long 
disuse. 

Soon  as  the  first  banquet  ended,  and  the  viands  were  re- 
moved, they  place  large  mixers,  and  crown  the  wines.  A 
bustling  din  arises  through  the  hall,  and  they  roll  through 
the  ample  courts  the  bounding  voice.  Down  from  the  gold- 
fretted  ceilings88  hang  the  flaming  lamps,  and  torches  over- 
power the  darkness  of  the  night.  Here  the  queen  called  for 
a  bowl,  heavy  with  gems  and  gold,  and  with  pure  wine  filled 
it  to  the  brim,  which  Belus,89  and  all  her  ancestors  from  Belus, 
used ;  then,  having  enjoined  silence  through  the  palace  [she 
thus  began]  :  O  Jove  (for  by  thee,  it  is  said,  the  laws  of  hospi- 
tality were  given),  grant  this  may  be  an  auspicious  day  both 

.as  "  Adolere"="augere,"  i.  ,e.  "to  increase  the  power  of  the  gods 
who  presided  over  the  hearth,  by  due  attention  to  culinary  offices."  See 
Anthon.  Davidson's  note  is  founded  upon  an  old  mistake.  B. 

81  t.  e.  "  insidiatur."     SERVIUS.     See  Burm.  on  Petron.  p.  490.     B. 

88  So  Sidon.  Apoll.  Ep.  ix.  13,  "  laquearibus  coruscis  camera}  in  su- 
perna  lychnus."  B. 

**  Belus,  a  king  of  Tyre,  from  whom  Dido  waa  descended. 


a  IL  132-756.     IT.  1,  2.  ^NEID.  127 

to  the  Tyrians  and  my  Trojan  guests,  and  may  this  day  be 
commemorated  by  our  posterity.  Bacchus,  the  giver  of  joy, 
and  propitious  Juno,  be  present  here  ;  and  you,  my  Tyrians, 
with  good  will,  solemnize  this  meeting.  She  said,  and  on  the 
table  poured  an  offering;  and,  after  the  libation,  first  gently 
touched  [the  cup]  with  her  lips,  then  gave  it  to  Bitias90  with 
a  challenge  :  he  quickly  drained  the  foaming  bowl,  and  laved 
himself  with  the  brimming  gold.  After  him  the  other  lords 
[drank].  Long-haired  lopas  [next]  tunes  his  golden  lyre  to 
what  the  mighty  Atlas  taught,  lie  sings  of  the  wandering 
moon,  and  the  eclipses  of  the  sun ;  whence  the  race  of  men 
and  beasts,  whence  showers  and  fiery  meteors  arise :  of  Arc- 
turus,  the  rainy  Hyades,  and  the  two  northern  wains ;  why 
winter  suns  make  so  much  haste  to  set  in  the  ocean,  or  what 
retarding  cause  detains  the  slow  [summer]  nights.  The  Tyrians 
redouble  their  applauses  and  the  Trojans  concur. 

Meanwhile  unhappy  Dido,  with  varied  converse,  spun  out 
the  night,  and  drank  long  draughts  of  love,  questioning  much 
about  Priam,  much  about  Hector  ;  now  in  what  arms  Aurora's 
son  had  come ;  now  what  were  the  excellences  of  Diomede's 
steeds  ;  now  how  mighty  was  Achilles.  Nay  come,  my  guest, 
she  says  ;  and  from  the  first  origin  relate  to  us  the  stratagems 
of  the  Greeks,  the  adventures  of  your  friends,  and  your  own 
wanderings ;  for  now  the  seventh  summer  brings  thee  [to  our 
coasts],  through  wandering  mazes  roaming  o'er  every  land  and 
sea. 

BOOK  H. 

In  the  Second  Book,  JSneas.  at  the  desire  of  Queen  Dido,  relates  the  fall 
of  Troy,  and  his  escape,  through  the  general  conflagration,  to  Mount  Ida. 
A  comparison  with  the  poems  of  Petronius  and  Tryphodorus  will  repay 
the  reader. 

ALL  became  silent,  and  fixed  their  eyes  upon  him,  eagerly 
attentive  ;  then  father  JEneas  thus  from  his  lofty1  couch  began : 

90  Bitias  and  lopas,  African  chiefs  and  suitors  of  Queen  Dido. 

1  Anthon  is  wrong  in  supposing  that  "  alto"  has  no  positive  meaning. 
It  was  customary  to  pile  up  the  cushions  and  draperies  of  the  couches, 
in  order  to  form  a  favorable  position  for  the  speaker  to  be  heard.  Of. 
Apul.  Met.  ii.  p.  27,  "  Aggeratis  in  tumulum  strajrulis,  ct  cffultis  in  cu- 
bitum,  suberectisquo  in  torum — inflt  Telephon."  B. 


128  jENEID.  B.  n.  3—30. 

Unutterable  woes,  O  queen,  you  urge  me  to  renew :  to  tell 
how  the  Greeks  overturned  the  power  of  Troy,  and  its  de- 
plorable realms :  both  what  scenes  of  misery  I  myself  beheld 
and  those  wherein  I  was  a  principal  party.  What  Myrmidon,* 
or  Dolopian,  or  who  of  hardened  Ulysses'3  band,  can,  in  the 
very  telling  of  such  woes,  refrain  from  tears  ?  Besides,  humid 
night  is  hastening  down  the  sky,  and  the  setting  stars  invite 
to  sleep.  But  since  you  are  so  desirous  of  knowing  our  mis- 
fortunes, and  briefly  hearing  the  last  effort  of  Troy,  though  my 
soul  shudders  at  the  remembrance,  and  hath  shrunk  back  with 
grief,  yet  will  I  begin.  The  Grecian  leaders,  now  disheartened 
by  the  war,  and  baffled  by  the  Fates,  after  a  revolution  of  so 
many  years,  [being  assisted]  by  the  divine  skill  of  Pallas, 
build  a  horse  the  size  of  a  mountain,  and  interweave  its  ribs 
with  planks  of  fir.  This  they  pretend  to  be  an  offering,  in 
order  to  procure  a  safe  return ;  which  report  spread.  Hither 
having  secretly  conveyed  a  select  band,  chosen  by  lot,  they 
shut  them  up  into  the  dark  sides,  and  fill  its  capacious  caverns 
and  womb  with  armed  soldiers.  In  sight  [of  Troy]  lies  Te- 
nedos,4  an  island  well  known  by  fame,  and  flourishing  while 
Priam's  kingdom  stood  :  now  only  a  bay,  and  a  station  unfaith- 
ful for  ships.  Having  made  this  island,  they  conced  them- 
selves in  that  desolate  shore.  We  imagined  they  were  gone, 
and  that  they  had  set  sail  for  Mycenae.  In.  consequence  of 
[this],  all  Troy  is  released  from  its  long  distress :  the  gates 
are  thrown  open ;  with  joy  we  issue  forth,  and  view  the  Gre- 
cian camp,  the  deserted  plains,  and  the  abandoned  shore. 
Here  were  the  Dolopian  bands,  there  stern  Achilles  had 
pitched  his  tent ;  here  were  the  ships  drawn  up,  there  they 

1  The  Myrmidons  and  Dolopians  inhabited  Thessaly,  and  the  borders 
of  Epirus, 

*  Ulysses,  the  son  of  Laertes  and  Anticlea,  king  of  the  islands  of  Ithaca 
and  Dulichium,  and  the  husband  of  Penelope,  was  distinguished  among 
the  Grecian  chiefs  for  superior  prudence  and  cunning.  After  the  fall  of 
Troy,  setting  sail  for  his  native  country,  he  was  exposed  to  incredible 
dangers  and  misfortunes,  and  at  last  reached  home,  without  a  single  com- 
panion, after  an  absence  of  twenty  years.  The  adventures  of  Ulysses,  in 
his  return  to  Ithaca  from  the  Trojan  war,  are  beautifully  depicted  by 
Homer,  in  the  first  twelve  books  of  the  Odyssey. 

4  Tenedos,  a  small  but  fertile  island  of  the  JEgean  Sea.  opposite  Troy. 
Here  the  Greeks  concealed  themselves,  to  make  the  Trojans  believe  that 
they  had  abandoned  the  siege. 


B.  IL  31—56.  ^ENEID.  129 

were  wont  to  contend  in  array.6  Some  view  with  amaze- 
ment that  baleful  offering  of  the  virgin  Minerva,  and  won- 
der at  the  stupendous  bulk  of  the  horse ;  and  Thymoetes'  first 
advised  that  it  be  dragged  within  the  walls  and  lodged  in  the 
tower,  whether  with  treacherous  design,  or  that  the  destiny 
of  Troy  now  would  have  it  so.  But  Capys,  and  all  whose7 
minds  had  wiser  sentiments,  strenuously  urge  either  to  throw 
into  the  sea  the  treacherous  snare  and  suspected  oblation  of  the 
Greeks ;  or  by  applying  flames  consume  it  to  ashes ;  or  to  lay 
open  and  ransack  the  recesses  of  the  hollow  womb.  The  fickle 
populace  is  split  into  opposite  inclinations.  Upon  this,  Lao- 
coon,8  accompanied  with  a  numerous  troop,  first  before  all,  with 
ardor  hastens  down  from  the  top  of  the  citadel ;  and  while 
yet  a  great  way  off,  [cries  out,]  O  wretched  countrymen,  what 
desperate  infatuation  is  this?  Do  you  believe  the  enemy 
gone  ?  or  think  you  any  gift  of  the  Greeks  can  be  free  from 
deceit  ?  Is  Ulysses  thus  known  to  you  ?  Either  the  Greeks  lie 
concealed  within  this  wood,  or  it  is  an  engine  framed  against 
our  walls,  to  overlook  our  houses,  and  to  come  down  upon  our 
city;  or  some  mischievous  design  lurks  beneath  it.  Trojans, 
put  no  faith  in  this  horse.  Whatever  it  be,  I  dread  the 
Greeks  even  when  they  bring  gifts.  Thus  said,  with  valiant 
strength  he  hurled  his  massy  spear  against  the  sides  and  belly 
of  the  monster,  where  it  swelled  out  with  its  jointed  timbers ; 
the  weapon  stood  quivering,  and  the  womb  be;ng  shaken,  the 
hollow  caverns  rang,  and  sent  forth  a  groan.  And  had  not  the 
decrees  of  heaven  [been  adverse],  if  our  minds  had  not  been 
infatuated,  he  had  prevailed  on  us  to  mutilate  with  the  sword 
this  dark  recess  of  the  Greeks ;  and  thou,  Troy,  should  still 
have  stood,9  and  thou,  lofty  tower  of  Priam,  now  remained ! 

5  "  Acie."     Some  MSS.  and  Rufin.  de  Schem.  lex.  p.  33,  have  "  acies." 
Cf.  Oudendorp  on  Frontin.  ii.  2.     B. 

6  Thymcetes,  a  Trojan  prince,  whose  wife  and  son  were  put  to  death 
by  Priam ;  in  revenge,  he  persuaded  his  countrymen  to  bring  the  wooden 
horse  into  the  city. 

T  On  the  ellipse  of  the  pronoun,  cf.  Oudend.  on  Lucan,  x.  347.     B. 

8  Laocoon,  a  son  of  Priam  and  Hecuba,  and  priest  of  Apollo,  who, 
with  his  two  sons,  were  destroyed  by  two  enormous  serpents,  while  he 
was  sacrificing  to  Neptune.     The  punishment  was  believed  to  be  inflicted 
upon  him  for  his  temerity  in  dissuading  the  Trojans  to  bring  into  the 
city  the  fatal  wooden  horse,  and  also  for  his  impiety  in  hurling  a  javelin 
against  its  sides  as  it  entered  within  the  walls. 

9  But  Wagner  prefers  "  staret."    B. 

6* 


130  ^ENEID.  B.  n.  57—82. 

In  the  mean  time,  behold,  Trojan  shepherds,  with  loud  accla- 
mations, came  dragging  to  the  king  a  youth,  whose  hands  were 
bound  behind  him ;  who,  to  them  a  mere  stranger,  had  volun- 
tarily thrown  himself  in  the  way,  to  promote  this  same  de- 
sign, and  open  Troy  to  the  Greeks;  a  resolute  soul,  and 
prepared  for  either  event,  whether  to  execute  his  perfidious 
purpose,  or  submit  to  inevitable  death.  The  Trojan  youth 
pour  tumultuously  around  from  every  quarter,  from  eagerness 
to  see  him,  and  they  vie  with  one  another  in  insulting  the 
captive.  Now  learn  the  treachery  of  the  Greeks,  and  from 
one  crime  take  a  specimen  of  the  whole  nation.10  For  as  he 
stood  among  the  gazing  crowds  perplexed,  defenseless,  and 
threw  his  eyes  around  the  Trojan  bands,  Ah  !  says  he,  what 
land,  what  seas  can  now  receive  me  ?  or  to  what  further  ex- 
tremity can  I,  a  forlorn  wretch,  be  reduced,  for  whom  there  is 
no  shelter  any  where  among  the  Greeks  ?  and  to  complete  my 
misery,  the  Trojans  too,  incensed  against  me,  sue  for  satisfac- 
tion with  my  blood.  By  which  mournful  accents  our  affec- 
tions at  once  were  moved  toward  him,  and  all  our  resentment 
suppressed :  we  exhort  him  to  say  from  what  race  he  sprurg, 
to  declare  what  message  he  brings,  what  confidence  we  may 
repose  in  him,  now  that  he  is  our  prisoner.  Then  he,  having 
at  length  laid  aside  fear,  thus  proceeds:  I  indeed,  O  king, 
will  confess  to  you  the  whole  truth,  says  he,  be  the  event 
what  will ;  nor  will  I  disown  that  I  am  of  Grecian  extraction  : 
this  I  premise ;  nor  shall  it  be  in  the  power  of  cruel  fortune, 
though  she  has  made  Sinon11  miserable,  to  make  him  also 
false  and  disingenuous.  If  accidentally,  in  the  course  of  re- 
port, the  name  of  Palamedes,"  the  descendant  of  Belus,  and 

10  Literally,  "  from  one  of  their  tricks  learn  what  they  all  are."    B. 

*l  Sinon,  a  crafty  Greek,  who  prevailed  on  the  Trojans  to  admit  into 
the  city  the  wooden  horse,  which  was  filled  with  armed  Greeks. 

M  Palamedes  was  the  son  of  Nauplius,  king  of  Euboea,  descended  from 
Belus,  king  of  Africa,  by  his  grandmother  Amymone,  the  daughter  of 
Danaus.  The  story  here  referred  to,  is  briefly  thus :  When  Ulysses,  to 
be  exempt  from  going  to  the  Trojan  war,  under  pretense  of  madness,  was 
plowing  up  the  shore,  and  sowing  it  with  salt,  Palamedes  laid  down  his 
son  Telemachus  in  his  way,  and  observing  him  to  turn  his  plow  aside, 
that  he  might  not  hurt  the  boy,  by  this  stratagem  discovered  his  madness 
to  be  counterfeit  For  this  Ulysses  never  could  forgive  him,  and  at  last 
wrought  his  ruin,  by  accusing  him  of  holding  intelligence  witli  the  enemy : 
to  support  which  charge  he  forged  letters  from  Priam  to  Palamedes, 
which  he  pretended  to  have  intercepted,  and  conveyed  gold  into  his  tent, 


B.  II.  83—109.  ^ENELD.  131 

his  illustrious  renown,  ever  reached  your  ears  (who,  though 
innocent,  the  Greeks  sent  down  to  death,  under  a  false  accusa- 
tion of  treason,  upon  a  villainous  evidence,  because  he  gave 
his  opinion  against  the  war ;  [but  whom]  now  they  mourn 
bereaved  of  the  light) ;  with  him  my  poor  father  sent  me  in 
company  to  the  war,  from  my  earliest  years,  being  his  near 
relative.  While  he  remained  safe  in  the  kingdom,  and  had 
weight  in  the  counsels  of  the  princes,  I  too  bore  some  reputa- 
tion and  honor :  [but]  from  the  time  that  he,  by  the  malice 
of  the  crafty  Ulysses  (they  are  well-known  truths  I  speak), 
quitted  the  regions  above,  I  distressed  dragged  out  my  life  in 
obscurity  and  grief,  and  secretly  repined  at  the  fate  of  my 
innocent  friend.  Nor  could  I  hold  my  peace,  fool  that  I  was, 
but  vowed  revenge,  if  fortune  should  any  way  give  me  the 
opportunity,  if  ever  I  should  return  victorious  to  my  native 
Argos  ;  and,  by  my  words,  I  provoked  bitter  enmity.  Hence 
arose  the  first  symptom13  of  my  misery ;  henceforth  Ulysses 
was  always  terrifying  me  with  new  accusations ;  henceforth 
he  began  to  spread  ambiguous  surmises  among  the  vulgar,  and, 
conscious  [of  his  own  guilt],  sought  the  means  of  defense. 
Nor  did  he  give  over,  till,  by  making  Calchas14  his  tool — But 
why  do  I  thus  in  vain  unfold  these  disagreeables  ?  or  why  do 
I  lose  time  ?  If  you  place  all  the  Greeks  on  the  same  footing, 
and  your  having  heard  that  be  enough  [to  undo  me],  this  very 
instant  strike  the  fatal  blow  :  this  the  prince  of  Ithaca  wishes, 
and  the  sons  of  Atreus  would  give  large  sums  to  purchase. 
Then,  indeed,  we  grow  impatient  to  know  and  to  find  out  the 
causes,  unacquainted  with  such  consummate  villainy  and 
Grecian  artifice.  He  proceeds  with  palpitation,  and  speaks 
in  the  falsehood  of  his  heart.  After  quitting  Troy,  the  Greeks 
sought  often  to  surmount  the  difficulties  of  their  return,  and, 
tired  out  with  the  length  of  the  war,  to  be  gone.  And  I  wish 

alleging  it  was  the  bribe  given  him  for  his  treason.  Upon  this  presump- 
tion Palamedes  was  condemned  by  a  council  of  war,  and  stoned  to  death. 
Vide  Ovid.  Met.  xiii.  56.  That  Palamedes  was  thus  taken  off  through  a 
stratagem  of  Ulysses,  was  a  fact  probably  well  known  to  the  Trojans, 
though  they  might  be  ignorant  of  the  color  for  his  being  taken  off. 
Sinon,  therefore,  to  secure  the  attention  and  belief  of  his  hearers,  very 
artfully  pretends  that  Palamedes  was  murdered,  because  he  had  dis- 
suaded the  Greeks  from  continuing  the  war  against  Troy. 

13  Literally,  "plague-spot."     B. 

14  Calchas,  a  famous  soothsayer,  who  accompanied  the  Greeks  to  the 
Trojan  war. 


232  ^ENEID.  B.  n.  110—136. 

they  had !  Often  did  the  rough  tempest  on  the  ocean  bar 
their  flight,  and  the  south  wind  deterred  them  in  their  setting 
out.  Especially  when  now  this  horse,  framed  of  maple  planks, 
was  reared,  storms  roared  through  all  the  regions  of  the  air. 
In  perplexity  we  send  Eurypylus15  to  consult  the  oracle  of 
Apollo ;  and  from  the  sacred  shrine  he  brings  back  this  dis- 
mal response  :  Ye  appeased  the  winds,  O  ye  Greeks,  with  the 
blood  of  a  virgin  slain,16  when  first  you  arrived  on  the  Trojan 
coast ;  by  blood  must  your  return  be  purchased,  and  atone- 
ment made  by  the  lite  of  a  Greek.  Which  intimation  no 
sooner  reached  the  ears  of  the  multitude,  than  their  minds 
were  stunned,  and  freezing  horror  thrilled  through  their  very 
bones ;  [anxious  to  know]  whom  the  Fates  destined,  whom 
Apollo  demanded.  Upon  this  Ulysses  drags  forth  Calchas 
the  seer,  with  great  bustle,  into  the  midst  of  the  crowd ;  im- 
portunes him  to  say  what  that  will  of  the  gods  may  be  ;  and, 
by  this  time,  many  presaged17  to  me  the  cruel  purpose  of  the 
dissembler,  and  quietly  foresaw  the  event.  He,  for  twice  five 
days,  is  mute,  and  close  shut  up,  refuses  to  give  forth  his  dec- 
laration against  any  person,  or  doom  him  to  death.  At  length, 
with  much  ado,  teased  by  the  importunate  clamors  of  Ulysses, 
he  breaks  silence  by  concert,  and  destines  me  to  the  altar.  All 
assented,  and  were  content  to  have  what  each  dreaded  for 
himself,  turned  off  to  the  ruin  of  one  poor  wretch.  And  now 
the  rueful  day  approached ;  for  me  the  sacred  rites  were  pre- 
pared, and  the  salted  cakes,  and  fillets  [to  bind]  about  my  tem- 
ples. From  death,  I  own,  I  made  my  escape,  and  broke  my 
bonds ;  and  in  a  slimy  fen  all  night  I  lurked  obscure  among 
the  weeds,  till  they  should  set  sail,  if  by  chance  they  should 

15  Eurypylus,  also  a  soothsayer  in  the  Grecian  camp  before  Troy. 

16  When  the  Grecian  army  was  arrived  at  Aulis,  ready  to  sail  over  the 
Hellespont  to  the  siege  of  Troy,  Diana,  incensed  against  Agamemnon 
for  killing  one  of  her  iavorite  deers,  withheld  the  wind.     Calchas,  hav- 
ing consulted  the  oracles,  reported  that  Iphigenia,  Agamemnon's  daughter, 
must  fall  a  victim  to  appease  Diana's  wrath.     Ulysses  went  and  fetched 
the  innocent  fair,  from  the  tender  embraces  of  her  mother,  under  color 
of  her  being  to  be  married  to  Achilles.     She  was  brought  to  the  altar, 
and  on  the  point  of  being  sacrificed,  when  Calchas  informed  that  Diana 
was  satisfied  with  this  act  of  submission,  and  consented  to  have  a  deer 
substituted  in  room  of  Iphigenia ;  but  that  she  must  be  transported  to 
Tauris,  there  to  serve  the  goddess  for  life  in  quality  of  priestess. 

"  Canebant.  C£  "Westerhov.  on  Ter  Heut.  ii.  3,  19,  who  remarks  that 
it  is  an  augurial  word.     B. 


B.  ii.  137-^169.  ^ENEID.  133 

do  so.  Nor  have  I  now  any  hope  of  being  blessed  with  the 
sight  of  my  ancient  country,  nor  of  my  sweet  children,  and  my 
much-beloved  sire  ;  whom  they,  perhaps,  will  sue  to  vengeance 
for  my  escape,  and  expiate  this  offense  of  mine  by  the  death 
of  those  unhappy  innocents.  But  I  conjure  you,  by  the  powers 
above,  by  the  gods  who  are  conscious  to  truth,  by  whatever 
remains  of  inviolable  faith  are  any  where  among  mortals,  com- 
passionate such  grievous  afflictions,  compassionate  a  soul  suffer- 
ing unworthy  treatment. 

At  these  tears  we  grant  him  his  life,  and  pity  him  from  our 
hearts.  Priam  himself  first  gives  orders  that  the  manacles 
and  strait  bonds  be  loosed  from  the  man,  then  thus  addresses 
him  in  the  language  of  a  Mend  :  Whoever  you  are,  now  hence- 
forth forget  the  Greeks  you  have  lost ;  ours  you  shall  be  ;  and 
give  me  an  ingenuous  reply  to  these  questions :  To  what 
purpose  raised  they  this  stupendous  bulk  of  a  horse  ?  who 
was  the  contriver  ?  or  what  do  they  intend  ?  what  was  the 
religious  motive  ?  or  what  warlike  engine  is  it  ?  he  said.  The 
other,  practiced  in  fraud  and  Grecian  artifice,  lifted  up  to 
heaven  his  hands,  loosed  from  the  bonds :  To  you,  ye  ever- 
lasting orbs  of  fire,  he  says,  and  your  inviolable  divinity ;  to 
you,  ye  altars,  and  horrid  swords,  which  I  escaped ;  and  ye 
fillets  of  the  gods,  which  I  a  victim  wore ;  to  you  I  appeal, 
that  I  am  free  to  violate  all  the  sacred  obligations  I  was  under 
to  the  Greeks ;  I  am  free  to  hold  these  men  in  abhorrence, 
and  to  bring  forth  to  light  all  their  dark  designs ;  nor  am  I 
bound  by  any  of  the  laws  of  my  country.  Only  do  thou,  O 
Troy,  abide  by  thy  promises,  and,  being  preserved,  preserve 
thy  faith  ;  provided  I  disclose  the  truth,  provided  I  make  thee 
large  amends. 

The  whole  hope  of  the  Greeks,  and  their  confidence  in  the 
war  begun,  always  depended  upon  the  aid  of  Pallas  :  but  when 
the  sacrilegious  Diomede,  and  Ulysses  the  contriver  of  wicked 
designs,  in  their  attempt  to  carry  off  by  force  from  her  holy 
temple  the  fatal  Palladium,18  having  slain  the  guards  of  her 
high  tower,  seized  her  sacred  image,  and  with  bloody  hands 
dared  to  touch  the  virgin  fillets  of  the  goddess ;  from  that  day 
the  hope  -of  the  Greeks  began  to  ebb,  and,  losing  footing,  to 

18  Palladium,  a  celebrated  statue  of  Pallas,  said  to  have  fallen  from 
heaven  upon  Troy,  and  on  the  preservation  of  which  depended  the  safety 
«f  that  city. 


134  ^ENEID.  B.  l*  170—202. 

decline :  their  powers  were  weakened,  the  mind  of  the  god- 
dess alienated :  nor  did  Tritonia19  show  these  indications  [of 
her  wrath]  by  dubious  prodigies ;  for  scarcely  was  the  statue 
set  up  in  the  camp,  when  bright  flames  flashed"  from  her  staring 
eyeballs,  and  a  briny  sweat  flowed  over  her  limbs ;  and  (won- 
derful to  hear)  she  herself  sprung  thrice  from  the  ground, 
armed  as  she  was,  with  her  shield  and  quivering  spear.  Forth- 
with Calchas  declares,  that  we  must  attempt  the  seas  in  flight, 
and  that  Troy  can  never  be  razed  by  the  Grecian  sword,  un- 
less they  repeat  the  omens  at  Argos,  and  carry  back  the  god- 
dess whom  they  had  conveyed  over  the  sea  in  their  curved 
ships.  And  now,  that  they  have  sailed  for  their  native  Mycenae 
with  the  wind,  they  are  providing  themselves  with  arms,  and 
gods  to  accompany  them  ;  and,  having  measured  back  the  sea, 
they  will  come  upon  you  unexpected  :  so  Calchas  interprets  the 
omens.  This  figure,  being  warned,  they  reared  in  lieu  of  the 
Palladium,  in  lieu  of  the  violated  goddess,  in  order  to  atone 
for  their  direful  crime.  But  Calchas  commanded  to  build  this 
enormous  mass,  and  raise  it  to  the  skies,  that  it  might  not  be 
admitted  into  the  gates,  or  dragged  into  the  city,  nor  protect 
the  people  under  their  ancient  religion.  For  [he  declared 
that]  if  your  hands  should  violate  this  offering  sacred  to 
Minerva,  then  signal  ruin  (which  omen  may  the  gods  rather 
turn  on  himself!)  awaited  Priam's  empire  and  the  Trojans. 
But,  if  by  your  hands  it  mounted  into  the  city,  that  Asia, 
without  further  provocation  given,  would  advance  with  a 
formidable  war  to  the  very  walls  of  Pelops,  and  our  posterity 
be  doomed  to  the  same  fete.  By  such  treachery  and  artifice 
of  perjured  Sinon,  the  story  was  believed :  and  we,  whom 
neither  Diomede,  nor  Larissaean™  Achilles,  nor  [a  siege  of] 
ten  years,  nor  a  thousand'1  ships,  had  subdued,  were  insuared 
by  guile  and  constrained  tears.  Here  another  greater  scene, 
and  far  moje  terrible,  is  presented  to  our  wretched  sight,  and 
disturbs  our  unexpecting  breasts.  Laocoon,  ordained  Xep- 
tune's  priest  by  lot,  was  sacrificing  a  stately  bullock  at  the 

19  Tritonia,  a  surname  of  Minerva,  from  Tritonis,  a  lake  and  river  of 
Africa,  near  \vhich  she  had  a  temple. 

**  Larissaean.  an  epithet  applied  to  Achilles,  from  Larissa,  the  capital 
city  of  Thessaly. 

11  See  the  commentators  on  ^Esch.  Ag.  45.  Virgil  speaks  in  roun<l 
numbers,  for  the  number  of  ships  somewhat  exceeded  a  thousand,  but  13 
variously  stated.  B. 


B.  u.  203—238.  ^ENEID.  135 

altars  set  apart  for  that  solemnity ;  when,  lo  !  from  Tenedos 
(I  shudder  at  the  relation)  two  serpents,  with  orbs  immense, 
bear  along  on  the  sea,  and  with  equal  motion  shoot  forward 
to  the  shore ;  whose  breasts  erect  amid  the  waves,  and 
crests  bedropped  with  blood,  tower  above  the  flood  ;  their 
other  parts  sweep  the  sea  behind,  and  wind  their  spacious 
backs  in  rolling  spires.  A  loud  noise  is  made  by  the  briny 
ocean  foaming :  and  now  they  reached  the  shores,  and,  suf- 
fused with  fire  and  blood  as  to  fheir  glaring  eyes,  with  quiver- 
ing tongues  licked  their  hissing  mouths.  Half-dead  with  the 
sight,  we  fly  different  ways.  They,  with  resolute  motion, 
advance  toward  Laocoon ;  and  first  both  serpents,  with  close 
embraces,  twine  around  the  little  bodies  of  his  two  sons, 
and  with  their  fangs  mangle  their  wretched  limbs.  Next 
they  seize  himself,  as  he  is  coming  up  with  weapons  to  their 
relief,  and  bind  him  fast  in  their  mighty  folds ;  and  now 
grasping  him  twice  about  the  middle,  twice  winding  their 
scaly  backs  around  his  neck,  they  overtop  him  by  the  head 
and  lofty  neck.  He  strains  at  once  with  his  hands  to  tear 
asunder  their  knotted  spires,  while  his  fillets  are  stained  with 
gore  and  black  poison  :  at  the  same  time  he  raises  hideous 
shrieks  to  heaven ;  such  bellowing  as  when  a  bull  has  fled 
wounded  from  the  altar,  and  has  eluded  with  his  neck  the 
missing  ax.  Meanwhile,  the  two  serpents  glide  off  to  the 
high  temple,  and  repair  to  the  fane  of  stern  Tritonia,  and  are 
sheltered  under  the  feet  of  the  goddess,  and  the  orb  of  her 
buckler.  Then,  indeed,  new  terror  diffuses  itself  through  the 
quaking  hearts  of  all ;  and  they  pronounce  Laocoon  to  have 
deservedly  suffered  for  his  crime,  in  having  violated  the  sacred 
wood  with  his  pointed  weapon,  and  hurled  his  profane  spear 
against  its  sides.  They  urge  with  general  voice  to  convey 
the  statue  to  its  proper  seat,  and  implore  the  favor  of  the 
goddess.  We  make  a  breach  iu  the  walls,  and  lay  open  the 
bulwarks  of  the  city.  All  keenly  ply  the  work  :  and  under 
the  feet  apply  smooth-rolling  wheels ;  stretch  hempen  ropes 
from  the  neck.  The  fatal  machine  passes  over52  our  walls, 
pregnant  with  arms ;  boys  and  unmarried  virgins  accompany 

"•  As  it  were  "  scales"  the  walls.  Thus  Ennius  in  Macr.  Sat.  vi.  2, 
"Nam  maximo  saltu  superavit  gravidus  armatis  equus."  Cf.  Stat.  Silv. 
i.  1,  11  sqq.  I  need  scarcely  remark  that  the  whole  description  has  been 
copied  by  Tryphiodorus.  B. 


136  ^ENEID.  B.  n.  239— 272. 

iL  with  sacred  hymns,  and  are  glad  to  touch  the  rope  with 
their  hands.  It  advances,  and  with  menacing  aspect  slides 
into  the  heart  of  the  city.  O  country,  O  Ilium,  the  habitation 
of  gods,  and  ye  walls  of  Troy  by  war  renowned  !  Four  times 
it  stopped  in  the  very  threshold  of  the  gate,  and  four  times 
the  arms  resounded  in  its  womb  :  yet  we,  heedless,  and  blind 
with  frantic  zeal,  urge  on,  and  plant  the  baneful  monster  in 
the  sacred  citadel.  Then,  too,  Cassandra,"  by  the  inspiration 
of  the  god,  opens  her  lips  to  our  approaching  doom,  never  be- 
lieved by  the  Trojans.  Unhappy  we,  to  whom  that  day  was 
to  be  the  last,  adorn  the  temples  of  the  gods  throughout  the 
city  with  festive  boughs.  Meanwhile,  the  heavens  change,84 
and  night  advances  rapidly  from  the  ocean,  wrapping  in  her 
extended  shade  both  earth  and  heaven,  and  the  wiles  of  the 
Myrmidons.  The  Trojans,  dispersed  about  the  walls,  were 
hushed  :  deep  Sleep  fast  binds  them  weary  in  his  embraces. 
And  now  the  Grecian  host,  in  their  equipped  vessels,  set  out 
from  Tenedos,  making  toward  the  well-known  shore,  by  the 
friendly  silence  of  the  quiet  moonshine,  as  soon  as  the  royal 
[galley]  stern  had  exhibited  the  signal  fire ;  and  Sinon,  pre- 
served by  the  will  of  the  adverse  gods,  in  -a  stolen  hour  un- 
locks the  wooden  prison  to  the  Greeks  shut  up  in  its  womb  : 
the  horse,  from  his  expanded  caverns,  pours  them  forth  to  the 
open  air ;  and  with  joy  issue  from  the  hollow  wood  Thessan- 
drus  and  Sthenelus  the  chiefs,  and  dire  Ulysses,  sliding  down 
by  a  suspended  rope,  with  Athamas  and  Thoas,  Neoptolemus, 
the  grandson  of  Peleus,  and  Machaon  who  led  the  way,  with 
Menelaus,  and  Epeus  the  very  contriver  of  the  trick.  They 
assault  the  city  buried  in  sleep  and  wine.  The  sentinels  are 
beaten  down ;  and  with  opened  gates  they  receive  all  their 
friends,  and  join  the  conscious  bands.  It  was  the  time  when 
the  first  sleep  invades  languid  mortals,  and  steals  upon  them, 
by  the  gift  of  the  gods,  most  sweet.  In  my  sleep,  lo  !  Hector, 
extremely  sad,  seemed  to  stand  before  my  eyes,  and  to  shed 
floods  of  tears  ;  dragged,  as  formerly  by  the  chariot,  and  black 

93  Cassandra,  the  daughter  of  Priam  and  Hecuba.  According  to  the 
poets,  she  had  the  gift  of  prophecy,  while  none  believed  her  predictions. 

24  This  is  according  to  the  astronomy  of  the  ancients,  who  supposed 
the  heavens  revolved  round  the  earth,  which  remained  stationary.  On 
the  time  in  which  Troy  was  taken,  cf.  Petron.  89,  p.  435.  Tryph.  452 
sqq.  B. 


B.  n.  273—307.  ^ENEID.  137 

with,  gory  dust,  and  his  swollen  feet  bored  through,  with 
thongs.  Ah  me  !  in  what  piteous  plight  he  was  !  how  changed 
from  that  Hector  who  returned  clad  in  the  armor  of  Achilles, 
or  darting  Phrygian  flames  against  the  ships  of  Greece! 
wearing  a  grizzly  beard,  hair  clotted  with  blood,  and  those 
many  wounds  which  he  had  received  under  his  native  walls. 
I,  methought,  in  tears  addressed  the  hero  first,  and  poured 
forth  these  mournful  accents  :  O  light2*  of  Troy,  O  Trojans' 
firmest  hope  !  what  tedious  causes  have  detained  thee  so 
long  3  Whence  comest  thou,  my  long-looked-for  Hector  ? 
With  what  joy  we  behold  thee  after  the  many  deaths  of  thy 
friends,  after  the  various  disasters  of  men  and  city !  What 
unworthy  cause  has  deformed  the  serenity  of  thy  looks  ?  or 
why  do  I  behold  these  wounds  I  He  [said]  not  a  word  ;  nor 
regards  me,  questioning  of  what  nought  availed ;  but  heavily, 
from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  drawing  a  groan  !  Ah !  fly, 
thou  goddess-born,  he  says,  and  snatch  thyself  from  these 
flames  :  the  enemy  is  in  possession  of  the  walls  ;  Troy  falls 
from  its  towering  tops.  To  Priam,  to  my  country,  all  duty 
has  been  done.  Could  those  walls  have  been  saved  by  the 
hand,  by  this  same  hand  had  they  been  saved.  Troy  com- 
mends to  thee  her  sacred  things,  her  gods :  these  take  com- 
panions of  thy  fate  ;  for  these  go  in  quest  of  a  city,  which,  in 
process  of  time,  you  shall  erect,  larger  of  size,  after  a  wander- 
ing voyage.  He  said,  and  with  his  own  hands  brings  forth, 
from  the  inner  temple,  the  fillets,  the  powerful  Vesta,  and  tho 
fire  which  always  burned. 

Meanwhile  the  city  is  filled  with  mingled  scenes  of  woe  f 
and  though  my  father  Anchises'  house  stood  retired,  and  in- 
closed with  trees,  louder  and  louder  the  sounds  rise  on  the  ear, 
and  the  horrid  din  of  arms  assails.  I  start  from  sleep,  and, 
by  hasty  steps,  gain  the  highest  battlement  of  the  palace,  and 
stand  with  erect  ears :  as  when  a  flame  is  driven  by  the  furi- 
ous south  winds  on  standing  corn  ;  or  as  a  torrent  impetuously 
bursting  in  a  mountain-flood  desolates  the  fields,  desolates  the 
rich  crops  of  corn,  and  the  labors  of  the  ox,  and  drags  woods 
headlong  down :  the  unwary  shepherd,  struck  with  the  sound 

"A  beautiful  imitation  of  Ennius,  as  quoted  by  Macrob.  Sat.  vL  2, 
"  0  lux  Troj'as,  germane  Hector.  Quid  ita  cum  tuo  lacerate  corpore 
miser  ?  Aut  qui  te  sic  respectantibus  Tractavere  nobis  ?"  So  Quintua 
Calaber  i.  12,  calls  Hector  ;} pap  Tro/.rjuv.  B. 


138  -<ENEHX  B.  u.  308—336. 

from  the  top  of  a  high  rock,  stands  amazed.  Then,  indeed, 
the  truth  is  confirmed,  and  the  treachery  of  the  Greeks  dis- 
closed. Now  Deiphobus'2"  spacious  house  tumbles  down, 
overpowered  by  the  conflagration ;  now,  next  to  him,  Ucale- 
gon37  blazes :  the  straits  of  Sigaeum38  shine  far  and  wide  with 
the  flames.  The  shout  of  men  and  clangor  of  trumpets  arise. 
My  arms  I  snatch  in  mad  haste  :  nor  is  there  in  arms  enough 
of  reason  :  but  all  my  soul  burns  to  collect  a  troop  for  the 
war,  and  rush  into  the  citadel  with  my  fellows  :  fury  and  rage 
hurry  on  my  mind,  and  it  occurs  to  me  how  glorious  it  is  to 
die  in  arms.  Lo  !  then  Pantheus,  escaped  from  the  sword  of 
the  Greeks,  Pantheus,  the  son  of  Othrys,  priest  of  the  citadel 
and  of  Apollo,  is  hurrying  away29  with  him  the  holy  utensils, 
the  conquered  gods,  and  his  little  grandchild,  and  makes  for 
the  shore  in  distraction.  How  is  it,  Pantheus,  with  the  main 
affair  ?  what  fortress  do  we  seize  ?  I  had  scarcely  spoken, 
when,  with  a  groan,  he  thus  replies :  Our  last  day  is  come, 
and  the  inevitable  doom  of  Troy :  we  are  Trojans  no  more  : 
adieu  to  Eium,  and  the  high  renown  of  Teucer's  race :  fierce 
Jupiter  hath  transferred  all  to  Argos  :  the  Greeks  bear  rule 
in  the  burning  city.  The  towering  horse,  planted  in  the 
midst  of  our  streets,  pours  forth  armed  troops  ;  and  Sinon  vic- 
torious with  insolent  triumph  scatters  the  flames.  Others  are 
pressing  at  our  wide-opened"  gates,  as  many  thousands  as 
ever  came  from  populous  Micenai :  others  with  arms  have 
blocked  up  the  lanes  to  oppose  our  passage  ;  the  edged  sword, 
with  glittering  point,  stands  unsheathed,  ready  for  dealing 
death  :  hardly  the  foremost  wardens  of  the  gates  make  an 
effort  to  fight,  and  resist  in  the  blind  encounter.  By  these 
words  of  Pantheus,  and  by  the  impulse  of  the  gods,  I  hurry 

46  Deiphobus,  a  son  of  Priam  and  Hecuba,  eminently  distinguished 
himself  in  the  Trojan  war,  and  after  the  death  of  his  brother  Paris,  mar- 
ried Helen. 

"  Ucalegon,  a  Trojan  chief,  praised  for  the  soundness  of  his  counsels, 
and  his  good  intentions,  though  accused  by  some  of  betraying  his  coun- 
try to  the  Greeks. 

88  Sigaeum,  a  famous  promontory  of  Troas,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Hel- 
lespont, where  the  Scamander  fell  into  the  sea.  Here  was  the  tomb  of 
Achilles,  and  near  it  were  fought  many  of  the  battles  between  the  Greeks 
and  the  Trojans. 

29  But  "trahere"  ia  properly  used  of  little  children,  who  follow  with 
difficulty.  Curt.  iii.  13,  12.  B. 

*°  f.  e.  "  having  both  valves  open."    B. 


B.  n.  337—365.  ^ENEiD  139 

away  into  flames  and  arms ;  whither  the  grim  Fury,  whither 
the  din  and  shrieks  that  rend  the  skies,  urge  me  on.  Ripheus," 
and  Iphitus,  mighty  in  arms,  join  me ;  Hypanis  and  Dymas 
coming  up  with  us  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  and  closely  ad- 
here" to  my  side  ;  and  also  young  Correbus,33  Mygdon's  son, 
who  at  that  time  had  chanced  to  come  to  Troy,  inflamed  with 
a  mad  passion  for  Cassandra,  and  [in  prospect,  his]  son-in- 
law,  brought  assistance  to  Priam  and  the  Trojans.  Ill-fated 
youth,  who  heeded  not  the  admonitions  of  his  raving  spouse ! 
Whom,  close  united,  soon  as  I  saw  resolute  to  engage,  to  ani- 
mate them  the  more  I  thus  begin  :  "  Youths,  souls  magnani- 
mous in  vain  !  if  it  is  your  determined  purpose  to  follow  me 
in  this  last  attempt,  you  see  what  is  the  situation  of  our  affairs. 
All  the  gods,  by  whom  this  empire  stood,  have  deserted  their 
shrines  and  altars  abandoned  [to  the  enemy] :  you  come  to 
the  relief  of  the  city  in  flames :  let  us  meet  death,  and  rush34 
into  the  thickest  of  our  armed  foes.  The  only  safety  for  the 
vanquished  is  to  throw  away  all  hopes  of  safety."  Thus  the 
courage  of  each  youth  is  kindled  into  fury.  Then,  like  raven- 
our  wolves"  in  a  gloomy  fog,  whom  the  f.'ll  rage  of  hunger  hath 
driven  forth,  blind  to  danger,  and  whose  whelps  left  behind 
long  for  their  return  with  thirsting  jaws ;  through  arms,  through 
enemies,  we  march  up  to  imminent  death,  and  advance  through 
the  middle  of  a  city :  sable  Night  hovers  around  us  with  her 
hollow  shade.  Who  can  describe  in  words  the  havoc,  who  the 
deaths  of  that  night  ?  or  who  can  furnish  tears  equal  to  the  dis- 
asters ?  Our  ancient. city,  having  borne  sway  for  many  years, 
tails  to  the  ground :  great  numbers  of  sluggish  carcasses  are 

31  Ripheus  was  distinguished  for  his  love  of  justice ;  having  joined 
JEneas  the  night  that  Troy  was  burned,  he  was,  after  a  brave  resistance, 
slain  by  the  Greeks.  Dymas :  this  brave  Trojan  also  joined  ^Eneas ;  but, 
being  dressed  hi  Grecian  armor,  was,  through  mistake,  killed  by  his 
countrymen. 

"  i.  e.  "implicare."     Ninus  i.  a  v.  "  agglomerare."    B. 

33  Coroebus,  a  Phrygian,  son  of  Mygdon,  the  brother  of  Hecuba.     He 
assisted  Priam  in  the  Trojan  war,  with  the  hopes  of  being  rewarded  with 
the  hand  of  Cassandra,  who  advised  him  in  vain  to  retire  from  the  war. 
He  was  slain  by  Peneleus. 

34  On  the  supposition  that  the  gods  deserted  a  captured  city,  c£  -<33sch. 
Sept.  c.  Th.   204,   a/.?.'   ovt>  i?eot)f  rovf  TJ/C  aTurvaijc,   rro/lfof  M.ei^eiv 
/.oyof.    See  the  notes,  and  Northmore  on  Tryphiod.  508.     B. 

36  varepov  irpbrepov,  as  Servius  rightly  remarks.  So  in  Eur.  Hec.  50, 
TOVTOV  Trot*  Irenov  Kutiepov  £.uvr\<;  v-o.  B. 


140  ^ENEID.  B.  n.  366 — 40L 

strewn  up  and  down,  both  in  the  streets,  in  the  houses,  and  the 
sacred  thresholds  of  the  gods.  Nor  do  the  Trojans  alone  pay 
the  penalty  with  their  blood  :  the  vanquished  too,  at  times,  re- 
sume courage  in  their  hearts,  and  the  victorious  Grecians  fall : 
every  where  is  cruel  sorrow,  every  where  terror  and  death  in 
thousand  shapes.36  Androgeos  first  comes  up  with  us,  accom- 
panied by  a  numerous  band  of  Greeks,  unadvisedly  imagining 
that  we  were  confederate  troops ;  and  he  introduces  himself  to 
us  with  this  friendly  address  :  Haste,  men ;  what  so  tardy 
sloth  detains  you  ?  Others  tear  and  plunder  the  blazing  towers 
of  Troy :  are  you  but  just  come  from  your  lofty  ships  ?  He 
said,  and  instantly  perceived  (for  we  returned  him  no  very 
trusty  answer)  that  he  had  stumbled87  into  the  midst  of  foes. 
He  was  confounded,  and  with  his  words  recalled  his  step.  As 
one  who,  in  his  walk,  hath  trodden  upon  a  snake  unseen  in  the 
rough  thorns,  and  in  fearful  haste  hath  started  back  from  him, 
while  he  is  collecting  all  his  rage,  and  swelling  his  azure 
crest ;  just  so  Androgeos,  terrified  at  the  sight  [of  us],  began 
to  withdraw.  We  rush  in,  and  pour  around  with  arms  close 
joined,  and  knock  them  down  here  and  there,  strangers  as 
they  were  to  the  place,  and  possessed  with  fear :  fortune 
smiles  upon  our  first  enterprise.  Upon  this  Coroebus,  exult- 
ing with  success  and  courage,  cried  out,  My  fellows,  where 
fortune  thus  early  points  out  our  way  to  safety,  and  where 
she  shows  herself  propitious,  let  us  follow.  Let  us  exchange 
shields,  and  fit  to  ourselves  the  badges  of  the  Greeks  :  whether 
stratagem  or  valor,  who  questions  in  an  enemy  ?  they  them- 
selves will  supply  us  with  arms.  This  said,  he  puts  on  the 
crested  helmet  of  Androgeos,  and  the  rich  ornament  of  his 
shield,  and  buckles  to  his  side  a  Grecian  sword.  The  same 
does  Ripheus,  the  same  does  Dymas  too,  and  all  the  youth 
well  pleased  :  each  arms  himself  with  the  recent  spoils.  We 
march  on,  mingling  with  the  Greeks,  but  not  with  heaven  on 
our  side  ;  and  in  many  a  skirmish  we  engage  during  the  dark 
night :  many  of  the  Greeks  wo  send  down  to  Hades.  Some 
fly  to  the  ships,  and  hasten  to  the  trusty  shore ;  some,  through 
dishonest  fear,  scale  once  more  the  bulky  horse,  and  lurk 

38  Thucyd.  L  81,  iru.au,  re  idea  Karearri  davurov.  C£  Trjphiodor. 
673,  sqq.  B. 

"  For  the  construction  compare  Muret.  on  CatulL  iv.  2,  "  Ait  fuisse 
navium  celerrimus."  Soph.  Ant  87.  Trach.  5. 


B.  IL  402—438.  ^BNEID.  141 

within  the  well-known  womb.  Alas !  on  nothing  ought  man 
to  presume,  while  the  gods  are  igainst  him  !  Lo  !  Cassandra, 
Priam's  virgin  daughter,  with  her  hair  disheveled,  was 
dragged  along  from  the  temple  and  shrine  of  Minerva,  raising 
to  heaven  her  glaring  eyes  in  vain ;  her  eyes — for  cords 
bound  her  tender  hands.  Coroebus,  in  the  madness  of  his 
soul,  could  not  bear  this  spectacle,  and,  resolved  to  perish, 
threw  himself  into  the  midst  of  the  band.  We  all  follow,  and 
rush  upon  them  in  close  array.  Upon  this  we  are  first  over- 
powered with  the  darts  of  our  friends  from  the  high  summit 
of  the  temple,  and  a  most  piteous  slaughter  ensues,  through 
the  appearance  of  our  arms,  and  the  disguise  of  our  Grecian 
crests.  Next  the  Greeks,  through  anguish  and  rage  for  the 
rescue  of  the  virgin,  fall  upon  us  in  troops  from  every  quarter ; 
Ajax,  most  fierce,  both  the  sons  of  Atreus,  and  the  whole 
band  of  the  Dolopes  :  as,  at  times,  in  a  burst  hurricane,  op- 
posite winds  encounter,  the  west  and  south,  and  Eurus,  proud 
of  his  eastern  steeds ;  the  woods  creak,  foaming  Nereus  rages 
with  his  trident,  and  rouses  the  seas  from  the  lowest  bottom. 
They,  too,  whom,  through  the  shades,  in  the  dusky  night,  we 
by  stratagem  had  routed,  and  driven  all  over  the  city,  make 
their  appearance ;  they  are  the  first  who  discover  our  shields 
and  counterfeit  arms,  and  mark  our  voices  in  sound  discordant 
with  their  own.  In  a  moment  we  are  overpowered  by 
numbers ;  and  first  Coroebus  sinks  in  death  by  the  hand  of 
Peneleus,  at  the  altar  of  the  warrior-goddess :  Ripheus,  too, 
falls,  the  most  just  among  the  Trojans,  and  of  the  strictest . 
integrity  ;  but  to  the  gods  it  seemed  otherwise.38  Hypanis  and 
Dymas  die  by  the  cruel  darts  of  their  own  friends,  nor  did  thy 
signal  piety,  nor  the  fillets  of  Apollo,  save  thee,  Pantheus,  in 
thy  dying  hour.  Ye  ashes  of  Troy,  ye  expiring  flames  of  my 
country  !  witness,  that  in  your  fall  I  shunned  neither  darts  nor 
any  deadly  chances39  of  the  Greeks  ;  and,  had  it  been  fated  that 
I  should  fall,  I  deserved  it  by  my  hand.  Thence  we  are  forced 
away,  Iphitus,  Pelias,  and  myself  (of  whom  Iphitus  was 
now  unwieldy  through  age,  and  Pelias  disabled  by  a  wound 
from  Ulysses),  forthwith  to  Priam's  palace  called  by  the 
outcries.  Here,  indeed,  [we  beheld]  a  dreadful  fight,  as 

38  i.  e.  "contra,"  as  explained  by  Donatus  on  Ter.  Andr.  Prol.  4. 
There  is  an  ellipse  ofj  "such  should  have  been  his  fate,  but,"  etc.     B. 
*9  i.  e.  "  prenas,"  says  Burm.  on  Proper!  i.  13,  10.    B. 


142  uENEID.  B.  n.  439 — 475. 

though  this  had  been  the  only  seat  of  the  war,  as  though  none 
had  been  dying  in  all  the  city  besides  ;  with  such  ungoverned 
fury  we  see  Mars  raging  and  the  Greeks  rushing  forward  to 
the  palace,  and  the  gates  besieged  by  an  advancing  testudo. 
Scaling  ladders  are  fixed  against  the  walls,  and  by  their  steps 
they  mount  to  the  very  door-posts,  and  protecting  themselves 
by  their  left  arms,  oppose  their  bucklers  to  the  darts,  [while] 
with  their  right  hands  they  grasp  the  battlements.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Trojans  tear  down  the  turrets  and  roofs  of 
their  houses ;  with  these  weapons,  since  they  see  the  ex- 
tremity, they  seek  to  defend  themselves  now  in  their  last 
death-struggle,  and  tumble  down  the  gilded  rafters,  those 
stately  ornaments  of  their  ancestors :  others  with  drawn  swords 
beset  the  gates  below ;  these  they  guard  in  a  firm,  compact 
body.  Our  ardor  is  restored  to  relieve  the  royal  palace,  sup- 
port our  friends  with  aid,  and  impart  fresh  strength  to  the 
vanquished.  There  was  a  passage,  a  secret  entry,  a  free  com- 
munication between  the  palaces  of  Priam,  a  neglected  postern- 
gate,  by  which  unfortunate  Andromache,40  while  the  kingdom 
stood,  was  often  wont  to  resort  to  her  parents-in-law  without 
retinue,  and  to  lead  the  boy  Astyanax  to  his  grand-sire.  I 
mount  up  to  the  roof  of  the  highest  battlement,  whence  the 
distressed  Trojans  were  hurling  unavailing  darts.  With  our 
swords  assailing  all  around  a  turret,  situated  on  a  precipice, 
and  shooting  up  its  towering  top  to  the  stars  (whence  we  were 
wont  to  survey  all  Troy,  the  fleet  of  Greece,  and  all  the  Gre- 
cian camp),  where  the  topmost  story  made  the  joints  more  apt 
to  give  way,41  we  tear  it  from  its  deep  foundation,  and  -push 
it  on  [our  foes].  Suddenly  tumbling  down,  it  brings  thunder- 
ing desolation  with  it,  and  falls  with  wide  havoc  on  the  Gre- 
cian troops.  But  others  succeed  :  meanwhile,  neither  stones, 
nor  any  sort  of  missile  weapons,  cease  to  fly.  Just  before  the 
vestibule,  and  at  the  outer  gate,  Pyrrhus  exults,  glittering  in 
arms  and  gleamy  brass ;,  as  when  a  snake  [comes  forth]  to 
light,  having  fed  on  noxious  herbs,  whom,  bloated  [with  pois- 
on], the  frozen  winter  hid  under  the  earth,  now  renewed,  and 
sleek  with  youth,  after  casting  his  skin,  with  breast  erect  he 
rolls  up  his  slippery  back,  reared  to  the  sun,  and  brandishes  a 

40  Andromache,  the  daughter  of  JEtion,  king  of  Thebes,  in  Mysia, 
and  the  wife  of  Hector,  by  whom  she  bad  Astyanax. 

41  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  tower  was  of  wood.     See  Anthou. 


B.  II.  475—506.  ^ENEID.  143 

three-forked  tongue  in  his  mouth.  At  the  same  time  bulky 
Periphas  and  Automedon,  charioteer  to  Achilles,  [now  Pyr- 
rhus']  armor-bearer ;  at  the  same  all  the  youth  from  Scyros 
advance  to  the  wall,  and  toss  brands  to  the  roof.  Pyrrhus 
himself  in  the  front,  snatching  up  a  battle-ax,  beats  through 
the  stubborn  gates,  aud  labors  to  tear  the  brazen  posts  from 
the  hinges ;  and  now,  having  hewn  away  the  bars,  he  dug 
through  the  firm  boards,  and  made  a  large,  wide-mouthed 
breach.  The  palace  within  is  exposed  to  view,  and  the  long 
galleries  are  discovered ;  the  sacred  recesses  of  Priam  and  the 
ancient  kings  are  exposed  to  view ;  and  they  see  armed  men 
standing  at  the  gate. 

As  for  the  inner  palace,  it  is  filled  with  mingled  groans 
and  doleful  uproar,  and  the  hollow  rooms  all  throughout  howl 
with  female  yells  :  their  shrieks  strike  the  golden  stars.  Then 
the  trembling  matrons  roam  through  the  spacious  halls,  and 
in  embraces  hug  the  door-posts,  and  cling  to  them  with  their 
lips."  Pyrrhus43  presses  on  with  all  his  father's  violence : 
nor  bolts,  nor  guards  themselves,  are  able  to  sustain.  The  gate, 
by  repeated  battering  blows,  gives  way,  and  the  door-posts, 
torn  from  their  hinges,  tumble  to  the  ground.  The  Greeks 
make  their  way  by  force,  burst  a  passage,  and,  being  admitted, 
butcher  the  first  they  meet,  and  fill  the  places  all  about  with 
their  troops.  Not  with  such  fury  a  river  pours  on  the  fields 
its  heavy  torrent,  and  sweeps  away  herds  with  their  stalls  over 
all  the  plains,  when  foaming  it  has  burst  away  from  its  broken 
banks,  and  borne  down  opposing  mounds  with  its  whirling 
current.  I  myself  have  beheld  Neoptolemus  raving  with  bloody 
rage,  and  the  two  sons  of  Atreus  at  the  gate  :  I  have  beheld 
Hecuba,  and  her  hundred  daughters-in-law,  and  Priam  at  the 
altar,  defiling  with  his  blood  the  fires  which  himself  had 
consecrated.44  Those  fifty  bed-chambers,  so  great  hopes  of  de- 
scendants, those  doors,  that  proudly  shone  with  barbaric  gold 
and  spoils,  were  leveled  with  the  ground :  where  the  flames 
relent,  the  Greeks  take  place. 

Perhaps,  too,  you   are  curious  to   hear  what  was  Priam's 

45  Cf.  Soph.  Phil.  535,  lupev,  u  not,  irpooKvaarre  TI/V  laa '  kotnov 
elvoiKijaiv.  B. 

43  Pyrrhus,  also  called  Neoptolemus,  was  the  son  of  Achilles  and  Dei- 
damia  daughter  of  King  Lycomedes.     His  cruelty  exceeded  even  that  of 
his  father. 

44  Ennius  in  Cicer.  T.  Q.  iii.  in  Scriver.  Coll.  p.  19,  i;  Haec  omnia  vidi 
inflammari :  Priamo  vi  vitam  evitari :  Jovis  aram  sanguine  turpari."    B. 


144  uEXEID.  B.  n.  507—539. 

fete.  As  soon  as  he  beheld  the  catastrophe  of  the  taken  city, 
and  his  palace-gates  broken  down,  and  the  enemy  planted  in 
the  middle  of  his  private  apartments,  the  aged  monarch, 
with  unavailing  aim,  buckles  on  his  shoulders  (trembling  with 
years)  arms  long  disused,  girds  himself  with  his  useless  sword, 
and  rushes  into  the  thickest  of  the  foes,  resolute  on  death.  In 
the  center  of  the  palace,4*  and  under  the  bare  canopy  of  heav- 
en, stood  a  large  altar,  and  an  aged  laurel  near  it,  overhang- 
ing the  altar,  and  encircling  the  household  gods  with  its 
shade.  Here  Hecuba  and  her  daughters  (like  pigeons  flying 
precipitantly  from  a  blackening  tempest)  crowded  together, 
and  embracing  the  shrines  of  the  gods,  vainly  sat  round  the 
altars.  But  as  soon  as  she  saw  Priam  clad  in  youthful  ai  ins, 
unhappy  spouse,  she  cries,  What  dire  purpose  has  piompted 
thee  to  brace  on  these  arms?  or  whither  art  thou  hurrying! 
The  present  conjuncture  hath  no  need  of  such  aid,  nor  such 
defense :  though  even  my  Hector  himself  were  here  [it  would 
•not  avail].  Hither  repair,  now  that  all  hope  is  lost:  this 
altar  •will  protect  us  aU,  or  here  you  [and  we]  shall  die  to- 
gether. Having  thus  said,  she  took  the  old  man  to  her  em- 
braces, and  placed  him  on  the  sacred  seat.  But  lo !  Polites, 
one  of  Priam's  sons,  who  had  escaped  from  the  sword  of 
Pyrrhus,  through  darts,  through  foes,  flies  along  the  long 
galleries,  and  wounded  traverses  the  waste  halls.  Pyrrhus, 
all  on  fire,  pursues  him  with  the  hostile  weapon,  is  just 
grasping  him  with  his  hand,  and  presses  on  him  with  the 
spear.  Soon  as  he  at  length  got  into  the  sight  and  presence 
of  his  parents,  he  dropped  down,  and  poured  out  his  life  with 
a  stream  of  blood*  Upon  this,  Priam,  though  now  held  in  the 
very  midst  of  death,  yet  did  not  forbear,  nor  spared  his  tongue 
and  passion :  But4'  may  the  gods,  he  cries,  if  there  be  any 
justice  in  heaven  to  regard  such  events,  give  ample  retribu- 
tion and  due  reward  for  this  wickedness,  for  these  thy  auda- 
cious crimes,  to  thee  who  hast  made  me  to  witness47  the  death 
of  my  own  son,  and  defiled  a  father's  eyes  with  the  sight  of 

4i  The  imptwnmn  Is  meant,  Priam's  palace  forming  a  square  court 
C£  Athen.  v.  3,  'Ofaipdf  Si  r^v  av/jjv  del  rarrti  bxl  TUV  v-al0puv  rcnruv, 
tv0a  ijv  6  TOV  'Epiciov  Zifvof  ffufio^.  R 

"  For  this  use  of  "  at"  in  reproaches,  cf.  Ovid.  Her.  xii  1,  "At  tibi 
Cokhorom  (memini)  regina  vacavL"  CatolL  iii.  13,  "  At  vobis  male  sit, 
malae  tenebrae."  R 

"  "  Cernere  fecisti"  is  a  Lucretian  form  of  expression.  C£  Lucr.  UL 
101 ;  "lariat  vivere,"  302,  vi  261.  B. 


B.  n.  539 — 573.  ,<ENEn>.  145 

blood :  yet  he  from  whom  you  folsely  claim  your  birth,  even 
Achilles  was  not  thus  barbarous  to  Priam,4*  though  his  enemy, 
but  paid  some  reverence  to  the  laws  of  nations,  and  a  sup- 
pliant's right,  restored  my  Hector's  lifeless  corpse  to  be  buried, 
and  sent  me  back  into  my  kingdom.  -Thus  spoke  the  old  man, 
and,  without  any  force,  threw  a  feeble  dart:  which  was  in- 
stantly repelled  by  the  hoarse  brass,  and  hung  on  the  highest 
boss  of  the  buckler  without  any  execution.  To  whom  Pyrrhus 
replies,  These  tidings  then  yourself  shall  bear,  and  go  with 
the  message  to  my  father,  the  son  of  Peleus :  forget  not  to 
inform  him  of  my  cruel  deeds,  and  of  his  degenerate  son 
Xeoptolemus:  now  die.  With  these  words  he  dragged  him 
to  the  very  altar,  trembling  and  sliding  in  the  streaming  gore 
of  his  son :  and  with  his  left  hand  grasped  his  twisted  hair, 
and  with  his  right  unsheathed  his  glittering  sword,  and 
plunged  it  into  his  side  up  to  the  hilt.  Such  was  the  end  of 
Priams's  fate  :  this  was  the  final  doom  allotted  to  him,  having 
before  his  eyes  Troy  consumed,  and  its  towers  laid  in  ruins ; 
once  the  proud  monarch  over  so  many  nations  and  countries  of 
Asia :  now  his  mighty  trunk  h'es  extended  on  the  shore,  the 
head  torn  from  the  shoulders,  and  a  nameless  corpse.4'  Then," 
and  not  till  then,  fierce  horror  assailed  me  round:  I  stood 
aghast ;  the  image  of  my  dear  father  arose  to  my  mind,  when 
I  saw  the  king,  of  equal  age,  breathing  out  his  soul  by  a  cruel 
wound ;  Creusa,**  forsaken,  came  into  mind,  my  rifled  house, 
and  the  fate  of  the  little  lulus.  I  look  about  and  survey 
what  troops  were  to  stand  by  me.  All  had  left  me  through 
despair,  and  flung  their  fainting  bodies  to  the  ground,  or  gave 
them  to  the  flames.  And  thus  now  I  remained  all  alone, 
when  I  espy  Helen  keeping  watch  in  the  temple  of  Vesta, 
and  silently  lurking  in  a  secret  corner :  the  bright  flames  give 
me  light  as  I  am  roving  on,  and  throwing  my  eyes  around  on 
every  object  She,  the  common  Fury  of  Troy  and  her 
country,  dreading  the  Trojans,  her  deadly  foes,  upon  account  of 
their  ruined  country,  and  the  vengeance  of  the  Greeks,  with 

«  "  In  hoste"  is  for  "  erga  hostem."    See  Broukh.  on  TibulL  iii.  6, 
19.     B. 

49  See  my  note  on  JEsch.  Choeph.  437.    B. 

50  Creusa,  daughter  of  Priam,  and  the  wife  of  JEneas,  who  was  lost 
in  the  streets  of  Troy,  when  ^Eneas  made  his  escape  with  his  father 
Anchises  and  his  son  Ascanius. 

7 


146  ^XEID.  B.  n.  514—610. 

the  fierce  resentment  of  her  deserted  lord,  had  hidden  herself, 
and  was  sitting  near  the  altars,  an  odious  sight.  Flames  were 
kindled  in  my  soul :  rage  possessed  me  to  avenge  my  falling 
country,  and  take  the  vengeance  her  guilt  deserved.  Shall 
she  then  with  impunity  behold  Sparta  and  her  country  My- 
cenae, and  go  off  a  queen,  after  she  has  gained  her  triumph  ? 
shall  she  see  her  marriage-bed,  her  home,  her  fathers,  her  sons, 
accompanied  with  a  retinue  of  Trojan  dames  and  Phrygian 
women  her  slaves  ?  shall  Priam  have  fallen  by  the  sword, 
shall  Troy  have  burned  with  the  flame,  shall  the  Trojan  shore 
so  often  be  drenched  in  blood  ?  It  must  not  be  so :  for  though 
there  be  no  memorable  name  in  punishing  a  woman,  nor  any 
honor  in  such  a  victory,  yet  shall  I  be  applauded  for  having 
extinguished  a  wicked  wretch,  and  for  inflicting  on  her  the 
punishment  she  deserves:  besides,  it  will  be  a  pleasure  to 
gratify  my  desire  of  burning  revenge,  and  to  give  satisfaction 
to  the  ashes  of  my  friends.  Thus  was  I  rapidly  reflecting, 
and  furiously  agitated  in  my  soul,  when  my  benign  mother 
presented  herself  to  my  view  with  such  brightness  as  I  had 
never  seen  before,  and  amid  the  night  shone  forth  in  pure 
light,  displaying  all  the  goddess,  with  such  dignity,  such  sta- 
ture, as  she  is  wont  to  show  to  the  immortals :  she  restrained 
me  fast  held  by  the  right  hand,  and  besides,  let  fall  these 
words  from  her  rosy  lips :  My  son,  what  high  provocation 
kindles  thy  ungoverned  rage?  why  art  thou  raving?  or 
whither  art  thy  regards  to  me  fled?  Will  you  not  first  see 
in  what  situation  you  have  left  your  father  Anchises,  encum- 
bered with  age  ?  whether  your  spouse  Creiisa  be  in  life,  and 
the  boy  Ascanius,  around  whom  the  Grecian  troops  from 
every  quarter  reel  ?  and,  do  not  my  care  oppose,  the  flames 
will  have  already  carried  off,  or  the  cruel  sword  imbibed  their 
blood.  Not  the  features  of  Lacedaemonian  Helen,  odious  in 
your  eyes,  nor  Paris  blamed ;  but  the  gods,  the  unrelenting 
^ods,  overthrow  this  powerful  realm,  and  level  the  towering 
tops  of  Troy  with  the  ground.  Turn  your  eyes;  for  I 
wuU  dissipate  every  cloud  which  now,  intercepting  the  view, 
bedims  your  mortal  sight,  and  spreads  a  humid  vail  of  mist 
around  you :  fear  not  you  the  commands  of  a  parent,  nor  re- 
fuse to  obey  her  orders.  Here,  where  you  see  scattered  ruins, 
and  stones  torn  from  stones,  and  smoke  in  waves  ascending 
with  mingled  dust,  Neptune  shakes  the  walls  and  foundations 


B.  ii.  611—639.  -.ENEID.  147 

loosened  by  his  mighty  trident,  and  overturns  the  whole  city 
from  its  basis.  Here  Juno,  extremely  fierce,  is  posted  in  the 
front  to  guard  the  Scsean"  gate,  and  girt  with  the  sword, 
with  furious  summons  calls  from  the  ships  her  social  band. 
Tritonian  Pallas  (see  !)  hath  now  planted  herself  on  a  lofty  tur- 
ret, refulgent  in  a  cloud,  and  with  her  Gorgon52  terrible.  The 
Sire  himself  supplies  the  Greeks  with  courage  and  strength 
for  victory :  himself  stirs  up  the  gods  against  the  arms  of 
Troy.  Speed  thy  flight,  my  son,  and  put  a  period  to  thy  toils. 
In  every  danger  I  will  stand  by  you,  and  safe  set  you  down 
in  your  father's  palace.  She  said,  and  hid  herself  in  the  thick 
shades  of  night.  Direful  forms  appear,  and  the  mighty  powers 
of  the  gods,  adverse  to  Troy.  Then,  indeed,  all  Ilium  seemed 
to  me  at  once  to  sink  in  the  flames,  and  Troy,  built  by  Nep- 
tune, to  be  overturned  from  its  lowest  foundation :  even  as 
when  with  emulous  keenness  the  swains  labor  to  fell  an 
ash  that  long  hath  stood  on  a  high  mountain,  hewing  it  about 
with  iron  and  many  an  ax,  ever  and  anon  it  threatens,  and 
waving  its  locks,63  nods  with  its  shaken  top,  till  gradually  by 
wounds  subdued,  it  hath  groaned  its  last,  and  torn  from  the 
ridge  of  the  mountain,  draws  along  with  it  ruin.  Down  I 
come,  and  under  the  conduct  of  the  god,  clear  my  way  amid 
flames  and  foes :  the  darts  give  place,  and  the  flames  retire. 
And  now,  when  arrived  at  the  gates  of  my  paternal  seat  and  an- 
cient house,  my  father,  whom  I  was  desirous  first  to  remove  to 
the  high  mountains,  and  whom  I  first  sought,  obstinately  re- 
fuses to  prolong  his  life  after  the  ruin  of  Troy,  and  to  suffer  exile. 
You,  says  he,  who  are  full  of  youthful  blood,  and  whose  powers 

si  Scaean  gate,  one  of  the  gates  of  Troy,  where  the  tomb  of  Laomedon 
was  seen. 

52  Gorgon,  Medusa,  whose  head  Perseus  cut  off  and  presented  to 
Minerva,  who  placed  it  on  her  aegis,  with  which  she  turned  into  stone 
all  such  as  fixed  their  eyes  upon  it.     The  Gorgons  were  the  three 
daughters  of  Phorcys  and  Ceto ;  their  hair,  according  to  the  ancients, 
was  entwined  with  serpents.     Medusa  was  the  only  one  of  them  who 
was  subject  to  mortality. 

53  Comam — nutat.     Virgil,  considering  a  tree  in  analogy  to  the  hu- 
man body,  calls  the  extended  boughs  its  arms,  brachia,  Georg.  ii.  296, 
368,  and  here  its  leaves,  comam,'hair,  or  locks.    So  also  Milton,  Parac 
dise  Lost,  x.  1065, 

while  the  winds 

Blow  moist  and  keen,  shattering  the  graceful  locks 
Of  those  fair  spreading  trees 


148  ^ENEID.  B.  n.  640—673. 

remain  firm  in  all  their  strength,  do  you  attempt  your  flight. 
As  for  me,  had  the  powers  of  heaven  designed  I  should  pro- 
long my  lite,  they  had  preserved  to  me  this  house :  enough 
it  is,  and  more  than  enough,  that  I  have  seen  one  catastrophe, 
"and  outlived  the  taking  of  this  city.  Thus,  oh  leave  me  thus 
with  the  last  farewell  to  my  body  laid  in  its  dying  posture. 
With  this  hand  will  I  find  death  myself.  The  enemy  will 
pity  me,  and  lust  for  my  spoils.  Trivial  is  the  loss  of  sepul- 
ture. I  have  long  since  been  lingering  out  a  length  of 
years,  hated  by  the  gods,  and  useless  from  the  time  when  the 
father  of  gods,  and  sovereign  of  men,  blasted  me  with  the 
winds  of  his  thunder,  and  struck  me  with  lightning. 

Such  purpose  declaring,  he  persisted,  and  remained  un- 
alterable. On  the  other  hand,  I,  my  wife  Creiisa,  Ascanius, 
and  the  whole  family  bursting  forth  into  tears,  [besought]  my 
father  not  to  involve  all  with  himself,  nor  hasten  our  impend- 
ing fate.  He  still  refuses,  and  perseveres  in  his  purpose,  and 
in  the  same  settled  position.  Once  more  I  fly  to  my  arms, 
and,  in  extremity  of  distress,  long  for  death  :  for  what  expedi- 
ent had  I  left,  or  what  chance  of  hope  ?  Could  you  hope,  sire, 
that  I  could  stir  one  foot  while  you  were  left  behind?  could 
such  impiety  drop  from  a  parent's  lips  ?  If  it  is  the  will  of 
the  gods  that  nothing  of  this  great  city  be  preserved ;  if  this 
be  your  settled  purpose,  and  you  will  even  involve  yourself 
and  yours  in  the  wreck  of  Troy ;  the  way  lies  open  to  that 
death  of  which  you  are  so  fond.  Forthwith  Pyrrhus,  [reek- 
ing] from  the  effusion  of  Priam's  blood,  will  be  here,  who 
kills  the  son  before  the  father's  eyes,  and  then  the  father  at 
the  altar.  Was  it  for  this,  my  benign  mother,  you  saved  me 
through  darts,  through  flames,  to  see  the  enemy  in  the  midst 
of  these  recesses,  and  to  see  Ascanius,  my  father,  and  Creiisa 
by  his  side,  butchered  in  one  another's  blood?  Arms,  my 
men,  bring  arms ;  this  day,  which  is  our  last,  calls  upon  us, 
vanquished  as  we  are.  Give  me  back  to  the  Greeks  :  let  me 
visit  once  more  the  fight  renewed  :  never  shall  we  all  die  un- 
revenged  this  day." 

Thus  I  again  gird  on  my  sword  :  and  I  thrust  my  left  hand 
into  my  buckler,  bracing  it  fitly  on,  and  rushed  out  of  the 
palace.  But  lo  !  my  wife  clung  to  me  in  the  threshold,  grasp- 

54  Donatus  quotes  this  line  to  illustrate  the  threatening  use  of  "  hodie," 
on  Ter.  Andr.  i.  2,  25 ;  ii.  4,  7,  etc.  So  Plaut.  Cure.  v.  3,  11.  B. 


B.  II.  614—709.  J3NEID.  149 

ing  my  feet,  and  held  out  to  his  father  the  little  lulus:  If, 
[says  she,]  you  go  with  a  resolution  to  perish,  snatch  us  with 
you  to  share  all :  but  if,  from  experience  you  repose  con- 
fidence in  those  arms  you  have  assumed,  let  this  house  have 
your  first  protection :  To  whom  are  you  abandoning  the  ten1 
der  lulus,  your  sire,  and  me  once  called  your  wife  ?  Thus 
loudly  expostulating,  she  filled  the  whole  palace  with  her 
groans,  when  a  sudden  and  wondrous  prodigy  arises :  for  amid 
the  embraces  and  parting  words  of  his  mourning  parents,  lo ! 
the  fluttering  tuft  from  the  top  of  lulus'  head  is  seen  to  emit 
light,  and  with  gentle  touch  the  lambent  flame  glides  harmless 
along  his  hair,  and  feeds  around  his  temples.  We,  quaking, 
trembled  for  fear,  brush  the  blazing  locks,  and  quench  the 
holy  fire  with  fountain-water.  But  father  Anchises"  joyful 
raised  his  eyes  to  the  stars,  and  stretched  his  hands  to  heaven 
with  his  voice ;  Almighty  Jove,  if  thou  art  moved  with  any 
supplications,  vouchsafe  to  regard  us ;  we  ask  no  more :  and 
O  sire,  if  by  our  piety  we  deserve  it,  grant  us  then  thy  aid, 
and  ratify  these  omens.  Scarcely  had  my  aged  sire  thus 
said,  when,  with  a  sudden  peal,  it  thundered  on  the  left,  and  a 
star,  that  fell  from  the  skies,  drawing  a  fiery  train,  shot 
through  the  shade  with  a  profusion  of  light.  We  could  see 
it,  gliding  over  the  high  tops  of  the  palace,  lose  itself  in  the 
woods  of  Mount  Ida,  full  in  our  view,  and  marking  out  the 
way :  then  all  along  its  course  an  indented  path  shines,  and 
all  the  place,  a  great  way  round,  smokes  with  sulphureous 
steams.  And  now  my  father,  overcome,  raises  himself  to 
heaven,  addresses  the  gods,  and  pays  adoration  to  the  holy  star : 
Now,  now  is  no  delay :  I  am  all  submission,  and  where  you 
lead  the  way  I  am  with  you.  Ye  gods  of  my  fathers,  save 
our  family,  save  my  grandson.  From  you  this  omen  came, 
and  Troy  is  at  your  disposal.  Now,  son,  I  resign  myself  in- 
deed, nor  refuse  to  accompany  you  in  your  expedition.  He  said, 
and  now  throughout  the  city  the  flames  are  more  distinctly 
heard,  and  the  conflagration  rolls  the  torrents  of  fire  nearer. 
Come  then,  dearest  father,  place  yourself  on  my  neck ;  with 
these  shoulders  will  I  support  you,  nor  shall  that  burden  op- 
press me.  However  things  fall  out,  we  both  shall  share  either 

55  Anchises,  the  son  of  Capys,  by  Themis,  daughter  of  Ilus.  His  son 
yEneas  saved  his  life  by  carrying  him  on  his  shoulders  through  the 
flames,  when  Troy  was  on  fire. 


150  ^JNEID.  B.  n.  710—747. 

one  common  danger  or  one  preservation :  let  the  boy  lulus  be 
ray  companion,  and  my  wife  may  trace  my  steps  at  some  dis- 
tance. Ye  servants,  needfully  attend  to  what  I  say.  In  your 
way  from  the  city  is  a  rising  ground,  and  an  ancient  temple 
of  deserted  Ceres;*'  and  near  it  an  aged  cypress,  preserved 
for  many  years  by  the  religious  veneration  of  our  forefathers. 
To  this  one  seat  by  several  ways  we  will  repair.  Do  you, 
father,  take  in  thy  hand  the  sacred  symbols,  and  the  gods  of 
our  country.  For  me,  just  come  from  war,  from  so  fierce  and 
recent  bloodshed,  to  touch  them  would  be  profanation,  till  I 
have  purified  myself  in  the  living  stream.  This  said,  I  spread 
a  garment  and  a  tawny  lion's  hide  over  my  broad  shoulders 
and  submissive  neck ;  and  stoop  to  the  burthen  :  little  lulus 
is  linked  in  my  right  hand,  and  trips  after  his  father  with 
unequal  steps :  my  spouse  comes  up  behind.  We  haste  away 
through  the  gloomy  paths :  and  I,  whom  lately  no  showers  of 
darts  could  move,  nor  Greeks  inclosing  me  in  a  hostile  band, 
am  now  terrified  with  every  breath  of  wind ;"  every  sound 
alarms  me  anxious,  and  equally  in  dread  for  my  companion 
and  my  burthen.  By  this  time  I  approached  the  gates,  and 
thought  I  had  overpassed  all  the  way,  when  suddenly  a  thick 
sound  of  feet  seems  to  invade  my  ears  just  at  hand ;  and  my 
father,  stretching  his  eyes  through  the  gloom,  calls  aloud, 
Fly,  fly,  my  son,  they  are  upon  you :  I  see  the  burnished 
shields  and  glittering  brass.  Here,  in  my  consternation,  some 
unfriendly  deity  or  other  confounded  and  bereaved  me  of  my 
reason;  for  while  in  my  journey  I  traced  the  by-paths,  and 
forsake  the  known  beaten  tracks,  alas !  I  know  not  whether 
my  wife  Creiisa  was  snatched  from  wretched  me  by  cruel  fate, 
or  lost  her  way,  or  through  fatigue  stopped  short;  nor  did 
these  eyes  ever  see  her  more.  Nor  did  I  observe  that  she 
was  lost,  or  reflect  with  myself,  till  we  were  come  to  the  rising 
ground,  and  the  sacred  seat  of  ancient  Ceres :  here,  at  length, 
when  all  were  convened,  she  alone  was  wanting,  and  gave 
disappointment  to  all  our  retinue,  especially  to  her  son  and 
husband.  Whom  did  I  frantic  not  accuse,  of  gods  or  men  ? 
or  of  what  more  cruel  scene  was  I  a  spectator  in  all  the 
desolation  of  the  city  ?  To  my  friends  I  commended  Ascanius, 

s$  i.  e.  neglected  during  the  war.     See  Anthon.     B. 
57  Siliua  vi.  58,  "Sonus  omnia  et  aura  Exterrent,  pennaque  levi  com- 
mota  volucris."    B. 


R  n.  748—781.  ^ENEID.  151 

iny  father  Anchises,  with  the  gods  of  Troy,  and  lodge  them 
secretly  in  a  winding  valley.  I  myself  repair  back  to  the 
city,  and  brace  on  my  shining  armor.  I  am  resolved  to  re- 
new every  adventure,  revisit  all  the  quarters  of  Troy,  and 
expose  my  life  once  more  to  all  dangers.  First  of  all,  I  re- 
turn to  the  walls,  and  the  dark  entry  of  the  gate  by  which  I 
had  set  out,  and  backward  unravel  my  steps  with  care  amid 
the  darkness,  and  run  them  over  with  my  eye.  Horror  on  all 
sides,  and  at  the  same  time  the  very  silence  affrights  my  soul. 
Thence  homeward  I  bent  my  way,  lest  by  chance,  by  any 
chance,  she  had  moved  thither :  the  Greeks  had  now  rushed 
in,  and  were  masters  of  the  whole  house.  In  a  moment  the 
devouring  conflagration  is  rolled  up  in  sheets  by  the  wind  to 
the  lofty  roof;  the  flames  mount  above;  the  fiery  whirlwind 
rages  to  the  skies.  I  advance,  and  revisit  Priam's  royal  seat, 
and  the  citadel.  And  now  in  the  desolate  cloisters,  Juno's 
sanctuary,  Phoenix  and  the  execrable  Ulysses,  a  chosen  guard, 
were  watching  the  booty :  hither,  from  all  quarters,  the  pre- 
cious Trojan  movables,  saved  from  the  conflagration  of  the 
temples,  the  tables  of  the  gods,  the  massy  golden  goblets, 
and  plundered  vestments,  are  amassed :  boys,  and  timorous 
matrons,  stand  all  around  in  a  long  train.  Now  adventuring 
even  to  dart  my  voice  through  the  shades,  I  filled  the  streets 
with  outcry,  and  in  anguish,  with  vain  repetition,  again  and 
again,  called  on  Creiisa.  While  I  was  in  this  search,  and  with 
incessant  fury  ranging  through  all  quarters  of  the  town,  the 
mournful  ghost  and  shade  of  my  Cretisa's  self  appeared  be- 
fore my  eyes,  her  figure  larger  than  I  had  known  it.  I  stood 
aghast!  my  hair  rose  on  end,  and  my  voice  clung  to  my  jaws. 
Then  thus  she  bespeaks  me,  and  relieves  my  cares  with  these 
words:  My  darling  spouse,  what  pleasure  have  you  thus  to 
indulge  in  grief  which  is  but  madness  ?  These  events  do  not 
occur  without  the  will  of  the  gods.  It  is  not  allowed  you 
to  carry  Creusa  hence  to  accompany  you,  nor  is  it  permitted 
by  the  great  ruler  of  heaven  supreme.  In  long  banishment 
you  must  roam,  and  plow  the  vast  expanse  of  the  ocean :  to 
the  land  of  Hesperia  you  shall  come,  where  the  Lydian5* 
Tiber,  with  his  gentle  current,  glides  through  a  rich  land  of 

53  Lydian  Tiber ;  the  epithet  is  applied  to  the  Tiber,  because  it  passes 
along  the  borders  of  Etruria,  whose  inhabitants  were  once  a  Lydian 
colony. 


152  jENEID.        B.  n.  782—804.    m.  1—8. 

heroes.  There,  prosperous  state,  a  crown,  and  royal  spouse, 
await  you :  dry  up  your  tears  for  your  beloved  Creiisa.  I,  of 
Dardanus'  noble  line,  and  the  daughter-in-law  of  divine  Venus, 
shall  not  see  the  proud  seats  of  the  Myrmidons  and  Dolopes, 
nor  go  to  serve  the  Grecian  dames ;  but  the  great  mother  of 
the  gods  detains  me  upon  these  coasts.  And  now  farewell,  and 
preserve  your  affection  to  our  common  son. 

With  these  words  she  left  me  in  tears,  ready  to  say  many 
things,  and  vanished  into  thin  air.  There  thrice  I  attempted 
to  throw  my  arms  around  her  neck;  thrice  the  phantom, 
grasped  in  vain,  escaped  my  hold,  swift  as  the  winged  winds, 
and  resembling  most  a  fleeting  dream.  Thus  having  spent 
the  night,  I  at  length  revisit  my  associates.  And  here,  to  my 
surprise,  I  found  a  great  confluence  of  new  companions :  mat- 
rons, and  men,  and  youths,  drawn  together  to  share  our  exile, 
a  piteous  throng !  From  all  sides  they  convened,  resolute  [to 
follow  me]  with  their  souls  and  fortunes,  and  whatever  coun- 
try I  was  inclined  to  conduct  them  over  the  sea.  By  this  time, 
the  bright  morning  star  was  rising  on  the  craggy  tops  of  lofty 
Ida,  and  ushered  in  the  day  :  the  Greeks  held  the  entrance  of 
the  gates  blocked  up;  nor  had  we  any  prospect  of  relief. 
I  gave  way,  r.nd  bearing  up  my  father,  made  toward  the 
mountain. 

BOOK  HI. 

In  the  Third  Book,  ^neas  continues  his  narration,  by  a  minute  account  of 
his  voyage,  the  places  he  visited,  and  the  perils  he  encountered,  from  the 
time  of  leaving  the  shores  of  Troas,  until  he  landed  at  Drepanum.  in 
Sicily,  where  he  buried  his  father. — This  Book  which  comprehends  a 
period  of  about  seven  years,  ends  with  the  dreadful  storm,  with  the  de- 
scription of  which  the  First  Book  opened. 

AFTER  it  had  seemed  fit  to  the  gods  to  overthrow  the  power 
of  Asia,  and  Priam's  race,  undeserving  [of  such  a  fate],  and 
stately  Ilium  fell,  and  while  the  whole  of  Troy,  built  by  Nep- 
tune, smokes  on  the  ground ;  we  are  determined,  by  revelations 
from  the  gods,  to  go  in  quest  of  distant  retreats  in  exile,  and 
unpeopled  lands ;  we  fit  out  a  fleet  just  under  the  walls  of 
Antandros1  and  the  mountains  of  Phrygian  Ida ;  and  draw 
our  forces  together,  uncertain  whether  the  Fates  point  our  way, 
where  it  shall  be  given  us  to  settle.  Scarcely  had  the  first 

1  Antandros,  a  city  of  Troas,  in  the  Gulf  of  Adramyttium. 


B.  in.  9 — 40.  ^ENEID.  153 

summer  begun,  when  my  father  Anchises  gave  command  to 
hoist  the  sails,  in  accordance  with  the  Fates.  Then  with  tears 
I  leave  the  shores  and  ports  of  my  country,  and  the  plains 
where  Troy  once  stood  :  an  exile  I  launch  forth  into  the  deep, 
with  my  associates,  my  son,  my  household  gods,  and  the  great 
gods  [of  my  country]. 

At  a  distance  lies  a  martial  land,  peopled  throughout  its 
wide-extended  plains  (the  Thracians  cultivate  the  soil),  over 
which  in  former  times  fierce  Lycurgus8  reigned  :  an  ancient 
hospitable  retreat  for  Troy,  and  whose  gods  were  leagued  with 
ours,  while  fortune  was  with  us.  Hither  I  am  carried,  and 
erect  my  first  walls  along  the  winding  shore,  entering  with 
Fates  unkind ;  and  from  my  own  name  I  call  the  citizens 
^Eneades.  I  was  performing  sacred  rites  to  my  mother  Venus, 
and  the  gods,  the  patrons  of  my  works  begun  ;  and  to  the  ex- 
alted king  of  the  immortals  I  was  sacrificing  a  sleek  bull  on 
the  shore.  Near  at  hand  there  chanced  to  be  a  rising  ground, 
on  whose  top  were  young  cornel-trees,  and  a  myrtle  rough 
with  thick  spear-like  branches.  I  came  up  to  it,  and  attempt- 
ing to  tear  from  the  earth  the  verdant  wood,  that  I  might 
cover  the  altars  with  the  leafy  boughs,  I  observe  a  dreadful 
prodigy,  and  wondrous  to  relate.  For  from  that  tree  which 
first  is  torn  from  the  soil,  its  rooted  fibers  being  burst  asunder, 
drops  of  black  blood  distill,  and  stain  the  ground  with  gore  : 
cold  terror  shakes  my  limbs,  and  my  chill  blood  is  congealed 
with  fear.  I  again  essay  to  tear  off  a  limber  bough  from  an- 
other, and  thoroughly  explore  the  latent  cause  :-and  from  the 
rind  of  that  other  the  purple  blood  descends.  Raising  in  my 
mind  many  an  anxious  thought,  I  with  reverence  besought  the 
rural  nymphs,  and  father  Mars,  who  presides  over  .the  Thra- 
cian  territories,  kindly  to  prosper  the  vision8  and  avert  evil 
from  the  omen.  But  when  I  attempted  the  boughs  a  third 
time  with  a  more  vigorous  effort,  and  on  my  knees  struggled 
against  the  opposing  mold  (shall  I  speak,  or  shall  I  forbear  ?) 
a  piteous  groan  is  heard  from  the  bottom  of  the  rising  ground, 
and  a  voice  sent  forth  reaches  my  ears :  ^Eneas,  why  dost  thou 

2  Lycurgus,  a  king  of  Thrace,   son  of  Dryas,   who,  it  is  said,  drove 
Bacchus  out  of  his  kingdom. 

3  For  "  visa,"  which  is  used  in  the  same  phrase  by  Silius,  viiL  124. 
Ducan.  i.  635.      On  the  myrtle-tomb   of   Polydore,   compare  Auson. 
Epitaph.  Her.  xix. 

7* 


154  ^ENEID.  B.  m.  41 — 68. 

tear  an  unhappy  wretch  ?  Spare  me,  now  that  I  am  in  my 
grave ;  forbear  to  pollute  with  guilt  thy  pious  hands :  Troy 
brought  me  forth  no  stranger  to  you  ;  nor  is  it  from  the  trunk 
this  blood  distills.  Ah,  fly  this  barbarous  land,  fly  the  ava- 
ricious shore  !  For  Polydore4  am  I :  here  an  iron  crop  of 
darts  hath  overwhelmed  me,  transfixed,  and  over  me  shot  up  in 
pointed  javelins.  Then,  indeed,  depressed  at  heart  with  per- 
plexing fear,  I  was  stunned ;  my  hair  stood  on  end,  and  my  - 
voice  clung  to  my  jaws.  This  Polydore  unhappy  Priam  had 
formerly  sent  in  secrecy,  with  a  great  weight  of  gold,  to  be 
brought  up  by  the  king  of  Thrace,  when  he  now  began*  to 
distrust  the  arms  of  Troy,  and  saw  the  city  with  close  siege 
blocked  up.  He,  as  soon  as  the  power  of  the  Trojans  were 
crushed,  and  their  fortune  gone,  espousing  Agamemnon's  in- 
terest and  victorious  arms,  breaks  every  sacred  bond,  assas- 
sinates Polydore,  and  by  violence  possesses  his  gold.  CurteJ 
thirst  of  gold,  to  what  dost  thou  not  drive  the  hearts  of  men  ! 
After  fear  left  my  bones,  I  report  the  portents  of  the  gods  to 
our  chosen  leaders,  and  chiefly  to  my  father,  and  demand  what 
their  opinion  is.  All  are  unanimous  to  quit  that  accursed 
land,  abandon  the  polluted  society,  and  spread  the  sails  to  the 
winds.  Therefore  we  renew  funeral  ceremonies  to  Polydore, 
and  a  large  mound  of  earth  is  heaped  up  for  the  tomb :  an 
altar  is  reared  to  his  manes,  mournfully  decked  with  lead- 
en-colored wreaths  and  gloomy  cypress  ;  and  round  it  the 
Trojan  matrons  stand  with  hair  disheveled,  according  to  cus- 
tom. We  offer  the  sacrifices  of  the  dead,  bowls  foaming  with 
warm  milk,  and  goblets  of  the  sacred  blood  :  we  give  the  soul 
repose  in  the  grave,  and  with  loud  voice  address  to  him  the 
last  farewell." 

4  Polydorus,  the  youngest  son  of  Priam  and  Hecuba,  was  assassinated 
by  Polymnestor,  king  of  Thrace,  who  had  been  intrusted  with  the  care 
of  the  young  prince. 

5  Eur.  Hec.  ii.  lv',  el  TCOT'  'IXiav  TE'IXTJ  irtGoi.    I  need  scarcely  refer 
the  reader  to  the  whole  passage.     B. 

6  I  have  illustrated  this  custom  in  my  notes  on  Eurip.  Alcest.  610. 
Ausonius  Parent.    159,   10,   "Yoce    ciere   animas  funeris  instar  habet. 
Gaudent  compositi  cineres  sua  nomina  dici ....  Nomine  ter  dicto,  pane 
sepultus  erit."     On  the  funeral  offerings  here  described,  see  my  notes 
on  ^Esch.  Pers.  p.  83,  ed.  Bohn.     Statius,  Theb.  vi.  209,  "  Spumantesque 
mero  patera  verguntur,  et  atri  Sanguinis,  et  rapti  gratissima  cymbia  lac- 
tis."     Alcaeus  Mess,  in  Brunck.  AnnaL  i.  p.  490,  /cat  rdfyov  vfy 
yuTiaKTi  6£  Koi/ievff  alydv  'Efifiavav,  £av6$  fu^dnevot  /JLE/.CTI.     B. 


B.  m.  69—101.  2GNEID.  155 

This  done,  when  first  we  durst  confide  in  the  main,  when 
the  winds  present  peaceful  seas,  and  the  south  wind  in  soft 
whispering  gales  invites  us  to  the  deep,  my  mates  launch  the 
ships  and  crowd  the  shore.  We  are  wafted  from  the  port,  and 
the  land  and  cities  retreat. 

Amid  the  sea  there  lies  a  charming  spot  of  land,  sacred 
to  [Doris]  (the  mother  of  the  Nereids),  and  ^Egean  Neptune ; 
which  once  wandering  about  the  coasts  and  shores,  the  pious 
god  who  wields  the  bow  fast  bound  with  high  Gyaros7  and 
Mycone,  and  fixed  it  so  as  to  be  habitable,  and  mock  the 
winds.  Hither  I  am  led  :  this  most  peaceful  island  receives  us 
to  a  safe  port  after  our  fatigue.  At  landing  we  pay  vener- 
ation to  the  city  of  Apollo.  King  Anius,8  both  king  of  men 
and  priest  of  Phoebus;  his  temples  bound  with  fillets  and 
sacred  laurel,  comes  up,  and  presently  recognizes  his  old  friend 
Anchises.  We  join  right  hands  in  amity,  and  come  under  his 
roof.  I  venerated  the  temple  of  the  god,  a  structure  of  ancient 
stone  [and  thus  began]  :  Thymbraean  Apollo,  grant  us,  after 
all  our  toils,  some  fixed  mansion ;  grant  us  walls  of  defense, 
offspring,  and  a  permanent  city :  preserve  those  other  towers 
of  Troy,  a  remnant  left  by  the  Greeks  and  merciless  Achilles. 
Whom  are  we  to  follow ;  or  whither  dost  thou  bid  us  go  ? 
where  fix  our  residence  ?  Father,  grant  us  a  prophetic  sign, 
and  glide  into  our  minds.  Scarcely  had  I  thus  said,  when  sud- 
denly all  seemed  to  tremble,  both  the  temple  itself,  and  laurel 
of  the  god  ;  the  whole  mountain  quaked  around,  and  the  sanc- 
tuary being  exposed  to  view,  the  tripod  moaned.  In  humble 
reverence  we  fall  to  the  ground,  and  a  voice  reaches  our  ears  : 
Ye  hardy  sons  of  Dardanus,  the  same  land  which  first  pro- 
duced you  from  your  father's  stock,  shall  receive  you  in  its 
fertile  bosom  after  all  your  dangers ;  search  out  your  ancient 
mother.  There  the  family  of  JEneas  shall  rule  over  every 
coast,  and  his  children's  children,  and  they  who  from  them 
shall  spring. 

Thus  Phoebus.  Emotions  of  great  joy,  with  mingled  tu- 
mult, arose ;  and  all  were  seeking  to  know  what  city  is  de- 
signed ;  whither  Phoebus  calls  us  wandering,  and  wills  us  to 

7  Gyaros  and  Mycone,  two  of  the  islands  called  the  Cyclades,  in  the 
jEgean  Sea.     . 

8  Anius,  the  son  of  Apollo  and  Rhea,  was  king  of  Delos,  and  father 
of  Andrus. 


156  '  ^ENEID.  B.  ni.  102—127. 

return.  Then  my  father,  revolving  the  historical  records  of 
ancient  heroes,  says,  Ye  leaders,  give  ear,  and  learn  what  yon 
have  to  hope  for.  In  the  middle  of  the  sea  lies  Crete,  the 
island  of  mighty  Jupiter,  where  is  Mount  Ida,  and  the  nursery 
of  our  race.  The  Cretans  inhabit  a  hundred  mighty  cities, 
most  fertile  realms :  whence  our  mighty  ancestor  Teucrus,  if 
I  rightly  remember  the  tradition,  first  arrived  on  the  Rhcetean 
coasts,9  and  chose  the  seat  of  his  kingdom.  No  Ilium  then 
nor  towers  of  Pergamus10  were  raised ;  in  the  deep  vales  they 
dwelt.  Hence  came  mother  Cybele,  the  patroness  of  the  earth, 
and  the  brazen  cymbals  of  the  Corybantes,11  and  the  Idaean 
grove ;  hence  that  faithful  secrecy  in  her  sacred  rites :  and 
harnessed  lions  were  yoked  in  the  chariot  of  her  queen.  Come, 
then,  and,  where  the  commands  of  the  gods  point  out  our  way, 
let  us  follow  ;  let  us  appease  the  winds,  and  seek  the  Gnossian 
realms.  Now  lie  they  at  the  distance  of  a  long  voyage  :  pro- 
vided Jove  be  with  us,  the  third  day  will  land  our  fleet  on  the 
Cretan  coast. 

This  said,  he  offered  the  proper  sacrifices  on  the  altars,  a 
bull  to  Neptune,  a  bull  to  thee,  O  fair  Apollo :  a  black  sheep 
to  the  Winter,  and  a  white  one  to  the  propitious  zephyrs.  A 
report  flies  abroad,  that  leader  Idomeneus1"  banished,  hath 
quitted  his  paternal  kingdom,  and  that  the  shore  of  Crete  is 
deserted ;  that  its  mansions  are  free  from  the  enemy,  and 
palaces  stand  forsaken.  We  leave  the  port  of  Ortygia,13  and 
scud  along  the  sea  :  we  cruise  along  Naxos  (on  whose  mount- 
ains the  Bacchanals  revel),  green  Donysa,14  Olearos,  snowy 
Paros,  and  the  Cyclades  scattered  up  and  down  the  main,  and 
narrow  seas  thick-sown  with  clustered  islands.  With  various 

9  Rhcetean  coasts;  Trojan  coasts,  from  Rhoeteum,  a  promontory  of 
Troas,  on  the  Hellespont,  near  which  the  body  of  Ajax  was  buried. 
1°  Pergamus,  the  citadel  of  Troy,  often  used  for  Troy  itself 

11  Corybantes,  the  priests  of  Cybele. 

12  Idomeneus,  king  of  Crete,  the  son  of  Deucalion.     Having  left  Crete 
after  his  return  from  the  Trojan  war,  he  came  to  Italy,  and  founded  the 
city  of  Salentum  on  the  coast  of  Calabria. 

13  Ortygia,  an  ancient  name  of  the  island  of  Delos,  where  was  a  famous 
temple  and  oracle  of  Apollo.     Naxos,  a  celebrated  island  of  the  ^Egean 
Sea,  the  largest  and  most  fertile  of  all  the  Cyclades. 

14  Donysa,  one  of  the  Cyclades  famed  for  producing  green  marble,  as 
Paros  was  for  white  marble.     Olearos  (Antiparos),  one  of  the  Cyclades, 
south-west  of  Paros.     Cyclades,  islands  in  the  JEge&n  Sea,  about  fifty  in 
number,  encircling  Delos. 


B.  m.  128 — 162.  ^ENEID.  157 

emulation  the  seamen's  shouts  arise.  The  crew  animate  one 
another  :  For  Crete  and  our  ancestors  let  us  speed  our  course. 
A  "wind  springing  up  astern,  accompanies  us  on  our  way,  and 
we  at  length  skim  along  to  the  ancient  seats  of  the  Curetes. 
Therefore,  with  eagerness,  I  raise  the  walls  of  the  so-much- 
wished  for  city,  and  call  it  the  city  of  Pergamus  ;  and  I  exhort 
my  colony,  pleased  with  the  name,  to  love  their  hearths, 
and  erect  turrets  on  their  roofs.  And  now  the  ships  were 
mostly  drawn  up  on  the  dry  beach  :  the  youth  were  engaged 
in  their  nuptials  and  new  settlements :  I  was  beginning  to 
dispense  laws  and  appropriate  houses ;  when  suddenly,  from 
the  infection  of  the  climate,  a  wasting  and  lamentable  plague 
seized  our  limbs,  the  trees,  and  corn ;  and  the  year  was 
pregnant  with  death.  Men  left  their  sweet  lives,  or  dragged 
along  their  sickly  bodies :  at  the  same  time  the  dog-star 
burned  up  the  barren  fields  :  the  herbs  were  parched,  and  the 
unwholesome  grain  denied  us  sustenance.  My  father  ad- 
vises, that,  measuring  back  the  sea,  we  again  apply  to  the 
oracle  of  Ortygia,  and  Apollo,  and  implore  his  grace,  [to 
know]  what  end  he  will  bring  to  our  forlorn  state  ;  whence  he 
will  bid  us  attempt  a  redress  of  our  calamities,  whither  turn 
our  course. 

It  was  night,  and  sleep  reigned  over  all  the  animal  world. 
The  sacred  images  of  the  gods,  and  the  tutelar  deities  of 
Phrygia,  whom  I  had  brought  with  me  from  Troy  and  the 
midst  of  the  flames,  were  seen  to  stand  before  my  eyes  while 
slumbering,16  conspicuous  by  a  glare  of  light,  where  the  full 
moon  darted  her  beams  through  the  inserted  windows.  Then 
they  thus  [seemed  to]  address  me,  and  dispel  my  cares  with 
these  words  :  What  Apollo  would  announce  to  you,  were  you 
wafted  to  Ortygia,  he  here  reveals,  and  lo !  unasked,  he  sends 
us  to  your  dwelling.  We,  after  Troy  was  consumed,  followed 
thee  and  thy  arms ;  under  thy  conduct  we  have  crossed  the 
swelling  sea  in  ships ;  we,  too,  will  exalt  thy  future  race  to 
heaven,  and  give  imperial  power  to  thy  city.  Do  thou  prepare 
walls  mighty  for  mighty  inhabitants,  and  shrink  not  from 
the  long  labors  of  thy  voyage.  You  must  change  your 
place  of  residence  :  these  are  not  the  shores  that  Delian  Apollo 
advises  for  you ;  nor  was  it  in  Crete  he  commanded  you  to 

13  I  read  "  in  soirmis,"  not  "  insomnis."    See  Anthon.     B. 


158  jENEID.  B.  ra.  163—195. 

settle.  There  is  a  place  (the  Greeks  call  it  Hesperia  by  name), 
an  ancient  country,  powerful  in  arms  and  fertility  of  soil :  the 
(Enotrians  peopled  it  once  ;  now  there  is  a  report,  that  their 
descendants  have  called  the  nation  Italy,  from  the  founder's 
name.  These  are  our  proper  settlements  •.  hence  Dardanus 
sprang,  and  father  lasius,18  from  which  prince  our  race  is  de- 
rived. Haste,  arise,  and  with  joy  report  to  thy  aged  sire  these 
intimations  of  unquestionable  credibility  :  search  out  Coritus17 
and  the  Ausonian  lands ;  Jupiter  forbids  thee  the  Cretan  ter- 
ritories. 

Astonished  by  this  vision  and  declaration  of  the  gods  (nor 
was  that  a  sound  sleep,  but  methought  I  clearly  discerned  their 
aspect  before  me,  their  fillet-bound  locks,  and  their  forms  full 
in  my  view  ;  then  a  cold  sweat  flowed  over  my  whole  body)  ; 
I  snatch  my  frame  from  the  couch,  and  lift  up  my  hand  supine 
to  heaven  with  my  voice,  and  pour  hallowed  offerings  on  the 
fires.  Having  finished  the  sacrifice,  with  joy  I  certify  Anchises, 
and  disclose  the  fact  in  order.  He  recognized  the  double 
stock,  and  the  double  founders  [of  the  Trojan  race],  and 
that  he  had  been  deceived  by  a  modern  mistake  respecting 
ancient  countries ;  then  he  thus  bespeaks  me :  My  son,  prac- 
ticed in  woe  by  the  fates  of  Troy,  Cassandra  alone  predicted 
to  me  that  such  was  to  be  our  fortune.  Now  I  recollect  that 
she  foretold  this  should  be  the  destiny  of  our  race,  and 
that  she  often  spoke  of  Hesperia,  often  of  the  realms  of  Italy. 
But  who  could  believe  that  the  Trojans  were  to  come  to  the 
Hesperian  shore  ?  or  whom  then  did  the  prophetic  Cassandra 
influence  ?  Let  us  resign  ourselves  to  Phoebus,  and,  since 
we  are  better  advised,  let  us  follow.  He  said ;  and,  exulting, 
we  all  obey  his  orders.  This  realm  we  likewise  quit,  and, 
leaving  a  few  behind,  unfurl  our  sails,  and  bound  over  the 
spacious  sea  in  our  hollow  barks. 

When  the  ships  held  possession  of  the  deep,  and  no  land  is 
any  longer  in  view,  sky  all  around,  and  ocean  all  around  ;  then 
an  azure  rain-cloud  stood  over  my  head,  bringing  on  night  and 
wintery  storm ;  the  waves  grew  rough  in  the  gloom  ;18  the  winds 

16  lasius,  a  son  of  Jupiter  and  Electra,  and  brother  to  Dardanus ;  ho 
was  one  of  the  Atlantides,  and  reigned  over  part  of  Arcadia. 

17  Coritus  (Cortona),  a  town  and  mountain  of  Etruria,  so  called  from 
Coritus,  a  king  of  Etruria,  father  to  lasius. 

li  Compare  Pacuvius,  "  Inhorrescit  mare,  tenebrae  conduplicantur,  noc- 
tisque  et  nubium  occaecat  nigror."  B. 


B  ra.  196— 227.  ^ENEID.  159 

overturn  the  sea,  and  mighty  surges  rise  :  we  are  tossed  to  and 
fro  on  the  face  of  the  boiling  deep  :  clouds  enwrapped  the  day, 
and  humid  night  snatched  the  heavens  [from  our  view]  ;  from 
the  bursting  clouds  flashes  of  lightning  redouble.  We  are 
driven  from  our  course,  and  wander  in  unknown  waves.  Pa- 
linurus1*  himself  owns  he  is  unable  to  distinguish  day  and 
night  by  the  sky,  and  that  he  has  forgotten  his  course  in  the 
mid  sea.  Thus  for  three  days,  that  could  hardly  be  distin- 
guished by  reason  of  the  dark  clouds,  as  many  starless  nights, 
we  wander  up  and  down  the  ocean.  At  length,  on  the  fourth 
day,  land  was  first  seen  to  rise,  to  disclose  the  mountains  from 
afar,  and  roll  up  smoke  :  the  sails  are  lowered,  we  ply  hard 
the  oars ;  instantly  the  seamen,  with  exerted  vigor,  toss  up  the 
foam,  and  swe'ep  the  azure  deep. 

The  shores  of  the  Strophades20  first  receive  me  rescued  from 
the  waves.  The  Strophades,  so  called  by  a  Greek  name,  are 
islands  situated  in  the  great  Ionian  Sea ;  which  direful  Celaeno21 
and  the  other  Harpies  inhabit,  from  what  time  Phineus'  palace 
was  closed  against  them,  and  they  were  frighted  from  his  table, 
which  they  formerly  haunted.  No  monster  more  fell  than  they, 
no  plague  and  scourge  of  the  gods  more  cruel,  ever  issued  from 
the  Stygian  waves.  They  are  fowls  with  virgin  faces,  most 
loathsome  is  their  bodily  discharge,  hands  hooked,  and  looks, 
ever  pale  with  famine.  Hither  conveyed,  as  soon  as  we  en- 
tered the  port,  lo !  we  observe  joyous  herds  of  cattle  roving 
up  and  down  the  plains,  and  flocks  of  goats  along  the  meadows 
without  a  keeper.  We  rush  upon  them  with  our  swords,  and 
invoke  the  gods  and  Jove  himself  to  share  the  booty.  Then 
along  the  winding  shore  we  raise  the  couches,  and  feast  on  the 
rich  repast.  'But  suddenly,  with  direful  swoop,  the  Harpies 
are  upon  us  from  the  mountains,  shake  their  wings  with  loud 
din,  prey  upon  our  banquet,  and  defile  every  thing  with  their 

- 19  Palinuras,  a  skillful  pilot  of  the  ship  of  ./Eneas.  He  fell  overboard 
while  asleep,  and  after  being  three  days  exposed  to  the  tempests,  he 
reached  the  shore  near  Velia,  a  town  of  Lucania,  when  he  was  murdered 
by  the  inhabitants.  A  promontory,  on  which  a  monument  was  raised  to 
him,  received  the  name  of  Palinurus. 

20  Strophades  (Stamphane),  two  small  islands  in  the  Ionian  Sea,  south 
of  the  island  of  Zacynthos  (Zante). 

21  Celaino,  one  of  the  Harpies :  these  were  fabulous  monsters,  with 
wings,  three  hi  number,  daughters  of  Neptune  and  Terra.     They  were 
sent  by  Juno  to  plunder  the  tables  of  Phineus,  king  of  Thrace,  whence 
they  were  driven  to  the  Strophades,  where  ^Eneas  found  them. 


160  ^EMTEID.  B.  in.  228—257. 

touch  :  at  the  same  time,  together  with  a  rank  smell,  hideous 
screams  arise.     Again  we  spread  our  tables  in  a  long  recess, 
under  a  shelving  rock,  inclosed  around  with  trees  and  gloomy 
shade  ;  and  once  more  we  plant  fire  on  the  altar.     Again  the 
noisy  crowd,  from  a  different  quarter  of  the  sky,  and  obscure 
retreats,  flutter  around  the  prey  with  hooked  claws,  taint  our 
viands  with  their  mouths.     Then  I  enjoin  my  companions  to 
take  arms,  and  wage  war  with  the  horrid  race.     They  do  no 
otherwise  than  bidden,  dispose  their  swords  secretly  among  the 
grass,   and   conceal   their  shields   out   of  sight.**     Therefore, 
as  soon  as  stooping  down  they  raised  their  screaming  voices 
along  the  bending  shores,  Misenus"  with  his  hollow  trumpet 
of  brass  gives  the  signal  from  a  lofty  place  of  observation  :  my 
friends  set  upon  them,  and  engage  in  a  new  kind  of  fight,  to 
employ  the  sword  in  destroying  obscene  sea-fowls.     But  they 
neither  suffer  any  violence  on  their  plumes,  nor  wounds  in  the 
body ;    and,  mounting  up  in  the  air  with  rapid  flight,  leave 
behind   them  their  half-eaten  prey,  and  the   ugly  prints  of 
their  feet     Celaeno  alone  alighted  on  a  high  rock,  the  proph- 
etess of    ill,    and    from  her  breast  burst  forth  these  words : 
War  too,  ye  sons  of  Laomedon,  is  it  your  purpose  to  mako 
war  for  our  oxen  which  you  have  slain,  for  the  havoc  you 
have    made   upon    our  bullocks,  and   to  banish  the  innocent 
Harpies  from  their  hereditary  kingdom  ?     Lend  them  an  ear, 
and  in  your  minds  fix  these  my  words :   what  the  almighty 
Sire  revealed  to  Phoebus,  Phoebus  Apollo  to  me,  I  the  chief  of 
the  furies  disclose  to  you.     To  Italy  you  steer  your  course,  and 
Italy  you  shall  reach  after  repeated  invocations  to '  the  winds, 
and  you  shall  be  permitted  to  enter  the  port :  but  you  shall 
not  surround  the  given  city  with  walls,  till  dire  famine   and 
disaster,  for  shedding  our  blood,  compel  you  first  to  gnaw 
around  and  eat  up  your  tables"  with  your  teeth. 

22  Cf.  Silius  ix.  99,  "condit  membra  occultata."    B. 

23  Hisenus  was  a  son  of  ^Eolus,  and  the  trumpeter  of  Hector,  after 
whose  death  he  followed  ^Eneas  to  Italy,  and  was  drowned  on  the  coast 
of  Campania,  because  he  had  challenged  one  of  the  Tritons, 

24  The  sense  of  this  prediction  is  seen  from  its  accomplishment  in  the 
Seventh  Book,  verse  116.     This  is  not  merely  poetical  invention,  it  was 
an  historical  tradition,  related  by  Dionysius  and  Strabo,  that  ^Eneas  had 
received  a  response  from  an  oracle,  foretelling  that,  before  he  came  to  his 
settlement  in  Italy,  he  should  be  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  eating  his 
trenchers.     Varro  says  he  got  it  from  the  oracle  of  Dodona.     Virgil  puts 


B.  m.  258—285.  JENEID.  161 

She  said,  and  on  her  wings  upborne  flew  into  the  wood. 
As  for  my  companions,  their  blood,  chilled  with  sudden  fear, 
stagnated :  their  minds  sunk  :  and  now  they  are  no  longer  for 
arms,  but  urge  me  to  solicit  peace  by  vows  and  prayers, 
whether  they  be  goddesses,  or  cursed  and  inauspicious  birds. 
My  father  Anchises,  with  hands  spread  forth  from  the  shore, 
invokes  the  great  gods,  and  enjoins  due  honors  to  be  paid 
them  :  Ye  gods,  ward  off  these  threatenings ;  ye  gods,  avert 
so  great  a  calamity ;  and  propitious  save  your  pious  votaries. 
Then  he  orders  to  tear  the  ropes  from  the  shore,  loose  and  dis- 
engage the  cables.  The  south  winds  stretch  our  sails :  we 
fly  over  the  foaming  waves,  where  the  wind  and  pilots  urged 
our  course.  Now  amid  the  waves  appear  woody  Zacynthos," 
Dulichium,  Same,  and  Nerito*)  with  its  steep  rocks.  We 
shun  the  cliffs  of  Ithaca,"  Laertes'  realms,  and  curse  the  land 
that  bred  the  cruel  Ulysses.  Soon  after  this  the  cloudy  tops 
of  Mount  Leucate,"  and  [the  temple  of}  Apollo,  the  dread  of 
seamen,  open  to  our  view.  Hither  we  steer  our  course  op- 
pressed with  toil,  and  approach  the  little  city.  The  anchor 
is  thrown  out  from  the  prow :  the  ships  are  ranged  on  the 
shore.  Thus  at  length  possessed  of  wished-for  land,  we  both 
perform  a  lustral  sacrifice  to  Jupiter,  and  kindle  the  altars  in 
order  to  perform  our  vows,  and  signalize  the  promontory  of 
Actium2*  by  celebrating  the  Trojan  games.  Our  crew,  hav- 
ing their  naked  limbs  besmeared  with  slippery  oil,  exercise 
the  wrestling  matches  of  their  country  :  it  delights  us  to  have 
escaped  so  many  Grecian  cities  and  pursued  our  voyage 
through  the  midst  of  our  enemies. 

Meanwhile  the  sun  finishes  the  revolution  of  the  great  year, 
and  frosty  winter  exasperates  the  waves  with  the  north  winds. 

this  prophecy  in  the  mouth  of  the  harpies,  as  being  both  suitable  to  their 
nature,  and  more  apt  to  raise  surprise  when  coming  from  them. 

23  Zacynthos,  etc.  These  are  islands  in  the  Ionian  Sea,  on  the  western 
coast  of  Greece.  Zacynthos  is  now  called  Zante.  Dulichium  was  part 
of  the  kingdom  of  Ulysses.  Same,  now  called  Cephalonia,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  which  went  with  Ulysses  to  the  Trojan  war.  Neritos,  a  mount- 
am  in  the  island  of  Ithaca,  often  applied  to  the  whole  island. 

26  Ithaca,  an  island  in  the  Ionian  Sea,  where  Ulysses  reigned. 

27  Leucate  (Cape  Ducato),  a  high  promontory  of  Leucadia  (St.  Maura), 
an  Island  in  the  Ionian  Sea,  where  was  a  famous  temple  of  Apollo. 

23  Actium  (Azio),  a  town,  and  (Cape  Figalo)  a  promontory  of  Epirus, 
celebrated  for  the  naval  victory  of  Augustus  over  Antony  and  Cleopatra, 
B.  c.  31. 


162  -3ENEID.  B.  HL  286—317- 

On '  the  front  door-posts  [of  the  temple]  I  set  up  a  buckler  of 
hollow  brass,  which,  mighty  Abas  wore,  and  notify  the  action  by 
this  verse :  "  These  arms  ^Eneas  [won]  from  the  victorious 
Greeks."  Then  I  ordered  [our  crew]  to  leave  the  port,  and 
take  their  seats  on  the  benches.  They  with  emulous  ardor 
lash  the  sea,  and  sweep  the  waves.  In  an  instant  we  lose 
sight  of39  the  airy  towers  of  the  Phseacians,  cruise  along  the 
coast  of  Epirus,  and  enter  the  Chaonian  port,  and  ascend  the 
lofty  city  of  Buthrotus.30  Here  a  report  of  facts  scarce  cred- 
ible invades  our  ears,  that  Helenus,31  Priam's  son,  was  reign- 
ing over  Grecian  cities,  possessed  of  the  spouse  and  scepter  of 
Pyrrhus,  the  grandchild  of  ^Eacus,  and  that  Andromache  had 
again  fallen  to  a  lord  of  her  own  country.  I  was  amazed,  and 
my  bosom  glowed  with  strangg  desire  to  greet  the  hero,  and 
learn  so  signal  revolutions  of  fortune.  I  set  forward  from  the 
port,  leaving  the  fleet  and  shore.  Andromache,  as  it  chanced, 
was  then  offering  to  [Hector's]  ashes  her  anniversary32  feast 
and  mournful  oblations  before  the  city  in  a  grove,  near  the 
stream  of  the  fictitious  Simois,  and  invoked  the  manes  at 
Hector's  tomb  ;  an  empty  tomb  which  she  had  consecrated  of 
green  turf,  and  two  altars,  incentives  to  her  grief.  As  soon 
as  she  saw  me  coming  up,  and  to  her  amazement  beheld  the 
Trojan  arms  around  me,  terrified  with  a  prodigy  so  great,  she 
stiffened  at  the  very  sight ;  vital  warmth  forsook  her  limbs : 
she  sinks  down,  and  at  length,  after  a  long  interval,  with  fal- 
tering accent  speaks :  Goddess-born,  do  you  present  yourself 
to  me  a  real  form,  a  real  messenger  ?  Do  you  live  ?  or,  if 
from  you  the  benignant  light  has  fled,  where  is  Hector  ?  She 
said,  and  shed  a  flood  of  tears,  filling  all  the  place  with  cries. 
To  her,  in  this  transport,  I  with  difficulty  make  even  a  brief 
reply,  and  in  great  perturbation  open  my  mouth  in  these  few 
broken  words :  I  am  alive  indeed,  and  spin  out  life  through 
all  extremes.  Doubt  not ;  for  all  you  see  is  real.  Ah !  what 
accidents  of  life  have  overtaken  you,  since  you  were  thrown 

29  So  KpvTTTsiv  is  elegantly  used  in  Greek.     Plat.  Protag.  70,  Qevyeiv 
elf  TO  TreAoyof,  dnoK.pwl>avTa  y^v.     See  Herndorf s  note.     B. 

30  Buthrotus  (Butrinto),  a  seaport  town  of  Epirus,  opposite  Corfu. 

31  Helenas,  a  celebrated  soothsayer,  the  only  one  of  Priam's  sons  who 
survived  the  ruin  of  his  country;  he  was  king  of  Chaonia  when  he  re- 
ceived JEneas  on  his  way  to  Italy. 

32  So  Serviua.     In  the  same  manner  Kara  KTOC  tuaaTov.     Thucyd.  iii. 
58.   B. 


B.  m.  318—349.  jENEID.  163 

down  from  [the  possession  of]  your  illustrious  lord  ?  or  what 
fortune,  some  way  suited  to  your  merit,  hath  visited  you  once 
more  ?  Is  then  Hector's  Andromache  bound  in  wedlock  to 
Pyrrhus  ?  Downward  she  cast  her  eyes,  and  thus  in  humble 
accents  [spoke]  :  O  happy,  singularly  happy,  the  fate  of  Priam's 
virgin-daughter,  who,  compelled  to  die  at  the  enemy's  tomb 
under  the  lofty  walls  of  Troy,  suffered  not  in  having  any  lots 
cast  for  her,  nor  as  a  captive  ever  touched  the  bed  of  a  victor 
lord !  We,  after  the  burning  of  our  country,  being  trans- 
ported over  various  seas,  have  in  thraldom  borne  with  a  mo- 
ther's throes  the  insolence  of  Achilles'  heir,  and  a  haughty, 
imperious  youth ;  who  afterward,  attaching  himself  to  Her- 
mione,"  the  granddaughter  of  Leda,  and  a  Lacedaemonian 
match,  delivered  me  over  a  slave  into  the  possession  of  a  slave, 
Helenus.  But  Orestes,34  inflamed  by  the  violence  of  love  to 
his  betrothed  snatched  from  him,  and  hurried  on  by  the  Furies 
of  his  crimes,  surprises  him  in  an  unguarded  hour,  and  assas- 
sinates him  at  his  paternal  altar.  By  the  death  of  Neoptole- 
mus,  a  part  of  his  kingdom  fell  to  Helenus  ;  who  denominated 
the  plains  Chaonian,  and  the  whole  country  Chaonia,  from  the 
Trojan  Chaon,  and  built  on  the  mountains  [another]  Perga- 
mus  and  this  Trojan  fort.  But  what  winds,  what  fates,  have 
guided  your  course  ?  or  what  god  hath  landed  you  on  our 
coasts  without  your  knowledge  ?  What  is  become  of  the  boy 
Ascanius  ?  Lives  he  still,  and  breathes  the  vital  air  ?  whom 
to  your  care,  when  Troy  was Has  the  boy  now  any  con- 
cern for  the  loss  of  his  mother  ?  Is  he  incited,  by  both  his 
father  ^Eneas  and  his  uncle  Hector,  to  ancient  valor  and 
manly  courage  ? 

Thus  bathed  in  tears  she  spoke,  and  heaved  long  unavailing 
eobs ;  when  the  hero  Helenus,  Priam's  son,  advances  from  the 
city  with  a  numerous  retinue,  knows  his  friends,  with  joy 
conducts  them  to  his  palace,  and  sheds  tears  in  abundance 
between  each  word.  I  set  forward,  and  survey  the  little 

33  Hermione,  the  daughter  of  Menelaus  and  Helen,  was  married  to 
Pyrrhus  (Neoptolemus),  the  son  of  Achilles ;  but  having  been  previously 
promised  to  Orestes,  Pyrrhus  was  assassinated,  when  she  became  the 
wife  of  Orestes. 

34  Orestes,  the  son  of  Agamemnon,  and  the  faithful  friend  of  Pylades. 
Having  slain  his  mother  Clytemnestra  and  her  paramour  Egisthus,  because 
they  had  murdered  his  father,  Orestes  was  tormented  by  the  Furies,  and 
exiled  himself  to  Argos,  the  throne  of  which  he  afterward  filled. 


164  vENEID.  B.  ra.  350—377. 

Troy,  the  castle  of  Pergamus  resembling  the  great  original, 
and  a  scanty  rivulet  bearing  the  name  of  Xanthus ;  and  I 
embrace  the  threshold  of  a  Scaean  gate.  The  Trojans  too,  at 
the  same  time,  enjoy  the  friendly  city.  The  king  entertained 
them  in  his  spacious  galleries.  In  the  midst  of  the  court 
they  quaffed  brimmers  of  wine,  while  the  banquet  was  served 
in  gold,  and  each  stood  with  a  goblet  in  his  hand. 

And  now  one  day,  and  a  second,  passed  on,  when  the  gales 
invite  our  sails,  and  the  canvas  bellies  by  the  swelling  south 
wind.  In  these  words  I  accost  the  prophet,  [Helenus,]  and 
question  him  thus  :  Son  of  Troy,  interpreter  of  the  gods,  who 
knowest  the  divine  will  of  Phoebus,  the  tripods,  the  laurels 
of  the  Clarian3*  god;  who  knowest  the  stars,  the  ominous 
sounds  of  birds,  and  the  prognostics  of  the  swift  wing,"  come, 
declare  (for  [hitherto  the  omens  of]  religion  have  pronounced 
my  whole  voyage  to  be  prosperous,  and  all  the  gods,  by  their 
divine  will,  have  directed  me  to  go  in  pursuit  of  Italy,  and 
attempt  a  settlement  in  lands  remote :  the  Harpy  CelaBno 
alone  predicts  a  prodigy  strange  and  horrible  to  relate,  and 
denounces  direful  vengeance  and  foul  famine)  what  are  the 
principal  dangers  I  am  to  shun  ?  or  by  the  pursuit  of  what 
means  may  I  surmount  toils  so  great  ?  Upon  this  Helenus 
first  solicits  the  peace  of  the  gods  by  sacrificing  bullocks  in 
due  form,  then  unbinds  the  fillets  of  his  consecrated  head, 
and  himself  leads  me  by  the  hand  to  thy  temple,  O  Phoebus, 
anxious  with  great  awe  of  the  god ;.  then  the  priest,  from  his 
lips  divine,  delivers  these  predictions :  Goddess-born  (for  that 
you  steer  through  the  deep  under  some  higher  auspices,  is  un- 
questionably evident ;  so  the  sovereign  of  the  gods  dispenses 
his  decree  ;  thus  he  fixes  the  series  of  revolving  events  ;  such 
a  scheme  of  things  is  coming  to  its  accomplishment),  that  you 
may  with  greater  safety  cross  the  seas  to  which  you  are  a 

33  Clarian  god,  a  name  of  Apollo,  from  Glares,  a  city  of  Ionia,  where 
he  had  a  famous  temple  and  oracle. 

36  Volucrum  linguas,  et  prajpetis  omina  pcnnse.  Some  birds  were  sub- 
servient to  divination  by  the  sounds  they  uttered,  and  these  were  called 
"Oscines;"  of  which  kind  were  the  crows,  ravens,  etc.  Hor.  iii.  Carm. 
Ode  xxvii.  2, 

Oscinem  corvum  prece  suscitabo 
Soils  ad  ortu. 

Others,  again,  answered  the  same  end  by  their  manner  of  flying,  and 
were  called  "  Prapetes." 


B.m.  378— 410.  uENEID.  165 

stranger,  and  settle  in  the  Ausonian  port,  I  will  unfold  to  you 
%  few  particulars  of  many ;  for  the  Destinies"  prevent  you 
from  knowing  the  rest,  and  Saturnian  Juno  forbids  Helenus 
to  reveal  it.  First  of  all,  a  long  intricate  voyage,  with  a 
length  of  lands,  divides  [you  from]  Italy,  which  you  unwit- 
tingly deem  already  near,  and  whose  ports  you  are  preparing 
to  enter,  as  if  just  at  hand.  You  must  both  ply  the  bending 
oar  in  the  Trinacrian  wave,  and  visit  with  your  fleet  the 
plains  of  the  Ausonian  Sea,  the  infernal  lakes,  and  the  isle  of 
/Eaean  Circe,  before  you  can  build  a  city  in  a  quiet,  peaceful 
land.  I  will  declare  the  signs  to  you :  do  you  keep  them 
treasured  up  in  your  mind.  When,  thoughtfully  musing  by 
the  streams  of  the  secret  river,  you  shall  find  a  large  sow  that 
bas  brought  forth  a  litter  of  thirty  young,  reclining  on  the 
ground,  under -the  holms  that  shade  the  banks,  white  [the 
dam],  the  offspring  white  around  her  dugs :  that  shall  be  the 
station  of  the  city ;  there  is  the  period  fixed  to  thy  labors. 
Nor  be  disturbed  at  the  future  event  of  eating  your  tables : 
the  Fates  will  find  out  an  expedient,  and  Apollo  invoked  will 
befriend  you.  But  shun  those  coasts,  and  those  nearest  limits 
t>f  the  Italian  shore,  which  are  washed  by  the  tide  of  our  sea : 
/ill  those  cities  are  inhabited  by  the  mischievous  Greeks.  Here 
the  Narycian  Locrians  have  raised  their  walls,  and  Cretan 
[domeneus  with  his  troops  has  possessed  the  plains  of  Salen- 
tum  :  here  stands  that  little  city  Petilia,  defended  by  the  walls 
of  Philoctetes38  the  Meliboean  chief.  [Remember]  also  (when 
your  fleet,  having  crossed  the  seas,  shall  come  to  a  station, 
and  you  shall  pay  your  vows  at  the  altar  raised  on  the  shore) 
to  cover  your  head,  muffling  yourself  in  a  purple  vail,  lest 
the  face  of  an  enemy,  amid  the  sacred  fires  in  honor  of  the 
gods,  appear,  and  disturb  the  omens.  This  custom,  in  sacri- 
fice, let  your  friends,  this  yourself  observe ;  to  this  religious 
institution  let  your  pious  descendants  adhere.  But  when, 
after  setting  out,  the  wind  shall  waft  you  to  the  Sicilian  coast, 


37  The  Destinies,  or  Fates,  deities  who  presided  over  the  birth  and 
the  life  of  mankind.  They  were  three  in  number,  Clotho,  Lachesis,  and 
Atropos,  daughters  of  Nox  and  Erebus,  or,  according  to  others,  of  Jupiter 
and  Themis. 

33  Philoctetes,  the  son  of  Poean,  king  of  Meliboea  in  Thessaly.  After 
his  return  from  the  Trojan  war,  he  settled  in  Italy,  where  he  built  the 
town  of  Petilia  (Strongoli)  in  Calabria. 


166  -.ENEID.  B.  ni.  411—447. 

and  the  straits  of  narrow  Pelorus"  shall  open  wider  to  the 
eye,  veer  to  the  land  on  the  left,  and  to  the  sea  on  the  left,  by 
a  long  circuit ;  fly  the  right  both  sea  and  shore.  These  lands, 
they  say,  once  with .  violence  and  vast  desolation  convulsed, 
(such  revolutions  a  long  course  of  time  is  able  to  produce), 
slipped  asunder  ;  when  in  continuity  both  lands  were  one,  the 
sea  rushed  impetuously  between,  and  by  its  waves  tore  the 
Italian  side  from  that  of  Sicily ;  and  with  a  narrow  frith  runs 
between  the  fields  and  cities  separated  by  the  shores.  Scylla 
guards  the  right  side,  implacable  Charybdis40  the  left,  and  thrice 
with  the  deepest  eddies  of  its  gulf  swallows  up  the  vast  billows, 
headlong  iu,  and  again  spouts  them  out  by  turns  high  into  the 
air,  and  lashes  the  stars  with  the  waves.  But  Scylla  a  cave 
confines  within  its  dark  recesses,  reaching  forth  her  jaws,  and 
sucking  in  vessels  upon  the  rocks.  First  she  presents  a  human 
form,  a  lovely  virgin  down  to  the  middle  ;  her  lower  parts  are 
those  of  a  hideous  sea-monster,  with  the  tails  of  dolphins 
joined  to  the  wombs  of  wolves.  It  is  better  with  delay  to 
coast  round  the  extremities  of  Sicilian  Pachynus,41  and  steer 
a  long  winding  course,  than  once  to  behold  the  misshapen 
Scylla  under  her  capacious  den,  and  those  rocks  that  roar 
with  her  sea-green  dogs.  Further,  if  Helenus  has  any  skill, 
if  any  credit  is  due  to  him  as  a  prophet,  if  Apollo  stores  his 
mind  with  truth,  I  will  give  you  this  one  previous  admonition, 
this  one,  O  goddess-born,  above  all  the  rest,  and  I  will  incul- 
cate it  upon  you  again  and  again :  Be  sure  you,  in  the  first 
place,  with  supplications  worship  great  Juno's  divinity ;  to  Juno 
cheerfully  address  your  vows,  and  overcome  the  powerful  queen 
with  humble  offerings :  thus,  at  length,  leaving  Trinacria, 
you  shall  be  dismissed  victorious  to  the  territories  of  Italy. 
When,  wafted  thither,  you  reach  the  city  Cumae,  the  hallowed 
lakes,  and  Avernus  resounding  through  the  woods,  you  will 
see  the  raving  prophetess,  who,  beneath  a  deep  rock,  reveals 
the  fates,  and  commits  to  the  leaves  of  trees  her  characters 
and  words.  Whatever  verses  the  virgin  has  inscribed  on  the 
leaves,  she  ranges  in  harmonious  order,  and  leaves  in  the 
cave  inclosed  by  themselves :  uncovered  they  remain  in  their 

39  Pelorus  (Cape  Peloro),  one  of  the  three  principal  promontories  of 
Sicily,  separated  from  Italy. by  the  straits  of  Messina. 

40  Charybdis,  a  dangerous  whirlpool  on  the  coast  of  Sicily,  opposite 
Scylla,  on  the  coast  of  Italy. 

41  Pachynus  (Cape  Passaro),  the  south-eastern  promontory  of  Sicily. 


B.  m.  448—481.  JENEID.  167 

position,  nor  recede  from  their  order.  But  when,  upon 
turning  the  hinge,  a  small  breath  of  wind  has  blown  upon 
them,  and  the  door  [by  opening]  hath  discomposed  the  tender 
leaves,  she  never  afterward  cares  to  catch  the  verses  as  they 
are  fluttering  in  the  hollow  .cave,  nor  to  recover  their  situation, 
or  join  them  together.  Men  depart  without  a  response,  and 
detest  the  Sibyl's"  grot.  Let  not  the  loss  of  some  time  there 
seem  of  such  consequence  to  you  (though  your  friends  chide, 
and  your  voyage  strongly  invite  your  sails  into  the  deep,  and 
you  may  have  an  opportunity  to  fill  the  bellying  canvas  with 
a  prosperous  gale),  as  to  hinder  you  from  visiting  the  proph- 
etess, and  earnestly  entreating  her  to  deliver  the  oracles 
herself,  and  vouchsafe  to  open  her  lips '  in  vocal  accents.  She 
will  declare  to  you  the  Italian  nations,  and  your  future  wars, 
and  by  what  means  you  may  shun  or  sustain  each  hardship ; 
and,  with  reverence  addressed,  will  give  you  a  successful  voy- 
age. These  are  all  the  instructions  I  am  at  liberty  to  give 
you.  Go  then,  and  by  your  achievements  raise  mighty  Troy 
to  heaven.  Which  words  when  the  prophet  had  thus  with 
friendly  voice  pronounced,  he  next  orders  presents  to  be 
carried  to  the  ships,  heavy  with  gold  and  ivory ;  and  within 
the  sides  of  my  vessel  stows  a  large  quantity  of  silver  plate, 
and  caldrons  of  Dodonean  brass,  a  mail  thick  set  with  rings, 
and  wrought  in  gold  of  triple  tissue,  together  with  the  cone 
and  waving  crest  of  a  shining  helmet,  arms  which  belonged 
to  Neoptolemus :  my  father  too  has  proper  gifts  conferred  on 
him.  He  gives  us  horses  besides,  and  gives  us  guides.  He 
supplies  us  with  rowers,  and  at  the  same  time  furnishes  our 
crew  with  arms.  Meanwhile  Anchises  gave  orders  to  equip 
our  fleet  with  sails,  that  we  might  not  be  late  for  the  favor- 
ing gale.  Whom  the  interpreter  of  Apollo  accosts  with  much 
respect :  Anchises,  honored  with  the  illustrious  bed  of  Venus, 
thou  care  of  the  gods,  twice  snatched  from  the  ruins  of  Troy, 
lo  !  there  the  coast  of  Ausonia  lies  before  you  ;  thither  speed 
your  way  with  full  sail :  and  yet  you  must  needs  steer  your 
course  beyond.  That  part  of  Ausonia  which  Apollo  opens  lies 
remote.  Go,  says  he,  happy  in  the  pious  duty  of  your  son :  why 
do  I  further  insist,  and  by  my  discourse  retard  the  rising  gales  ? 

42  The  Sibyls  were  certain  women  supposed  to  be  inspired,  who  flour- 
ished in  different  parts  of  the  world.  According  to  Varro,  the  number 
of  the  Sibyls  was  ten,  of  whom  the  most  celebrated  was  that  of  Cuma? 
in  Italy. 


168  2ENEID.  B.  in.  482—517. 

In  like  manner  Adromache,  grieved  at  our  final  departure, 
brings  forth  for  Ascanius  vestments  wrought  in  figures  of 
gold,  and  a  Phrygian  cloak ;  nor  falls  short  of  his  dignity  :*' 
she  loads  him  also  with  presents  of  her  labors  in  the  loom, 
and  thus  addresses  him,  Take  these  too,  my  child,  which  may 
be  memorials  to  you  of  my  handiwork,  and  testify  the  per- 
manent affection  of  Andromache,  the  spouse  of  Hector :  ac- 
cept the  last  presents  of  thy  friends.  O  image,  which  is  all 
that  I  have  now  left  of  my  Astyanax !  just  such  eyes,  such 
hands,  such  looks  he  showed ;  and  now  of  equal  age  with  you, 
would  have  been  blooming  into  youth.  I,  with  tears  in  my 
eyes,  thus  addressed  them  at  parting :  Live  in  felicity,  ye 
whose  fortune  is  now  accomplished :  we  are  summoned  from 
fate  to  fate.  To  you  tranquillity  is  secured ;  no  expanse  of 
sea  have  you  to  plow,  or  to  pursue  the  ever-retreating  lands 
of  Ausonia.  You  behold  the  image  of  Xanthus,  and  the  Troy 
which  your  own  hands  have  built:  Heaven  grant  it  be  with 
happier  auspices,  and  be  less  obnoxious  to  the  Greeks.  If 
ever  I  shall  enter  the  Tiber,  and  the  lands  that  border  on  the 
Tiber,  and  view  the  walls  allotted  to  my  race,  we  will  here- 
after make  of  our  kindred  cities  an  allied  people,  [yours]  in 
Epirus,  [and  mine]  in  Italy,  who  have  both  the  same  founder, 
Dardanus,  and  the  same  fortune ;  [we  will,  I  say,  make]  of 
both  one  Troy,  in  good-will.  Be  this  the  future  care  of  our 
posterity. 

We  pursue  our  voyage  near  the  adjacent  Ceraunian  mount- 
ains ;  whence  lies  our  way,  and  the  shortest  course  by  sea  to 
Italy.  Meanwhile  the  sun  goes  down,  and  the  dusky  mount- 
ains are  wrapped  up  in  shade.  On  the  bosom  of  the  wished- 
for  earth  we  throw  ourselves  down  by  the  waves,  having 
distributed  the  oars  by  lot,  and  all  along  the  dry  beacli  we  re- 
fresh our  frames  [with  food]  ;  sleep  diffuses  its  dews  over  our 
weary  limbs.  Night,  driven  by  the  hours,  had  not  yet  reached 
her  mid-way  course,  when  Palinurus  springs  alert  from  his 
bed,  examines  every  wind,  and  lends  his  ears  to  catch  the 
breeze.  He  marks  every  star  gliding  in  the  silent  sky,  Arc- 
turus,  the  rainy  Hyades,  and  the  two  northern  Bears,  and 
throws  his  eyes  round  Orion  armed  with  gold.  After  having 

43  i.  e.  "her  presents  are  such  as  his  merits  deserve."  Scaurus,  as 
we  learn  from  Servius,  read  "  honore,"  which  certainly  seems  more 
simple.  B. 


p.  m.  518—553.  J3NELD. 


169 


seen  all  appearances  of  settled  weather  in  the  serene  sky,  he 
gives  the  loud  signal  from  the  stern :  we  decamp,  attempt  our 
voyage,  and  expand  the  wings  of  our  sails.     And  now  the 
stars  being  chased  away,  blushing  Aurora  appeared,  when  far 
off  we  espy  the  hills  obscure,  and  lowly  Italy.     Italy  !  Achates 
first  called  aloud;   Italy  the  crew  with  joyous  acclamations 
hail.     Then  father  Anchises  decked  a  capacious  bowl  with  a 
garland,  and  filled  it  up  with  wine;  and  invoked  the  gods, 
standing  on  the  lofty  stern :  Ye  gods  who  rule  sea,  and  land, 
and  storms,  grant  us  a  prosperous  voyage  by  the-  wind,  and 
breath  propitious.     The  wished-for  gales  begin  to  swell;  and 
now  the  port  opens  nearer  to  our  view,  and  on  a  height  ap- 
pears the   temple  of  Minerva.     Our  crew  furl  the  sails,  and 
turn  about  their  prows  to  the  shore.     Where  the  wave  breaks 
from  the  east,  the  port  bends  into  an  arch ;  the  jutting  cliffs 
foam  with  the  briny  spray ;  [the  port]  itself  lies  hidden :  two 
turret-like  rocks  stretch  out  their  arms  in  a  double  wall,  and 
the   temple   recedes  from  the  shore.     Here,   on   the  grassy 
meadow,   I  saw,  as  our  first  omen,  four  snow-white  steeds 
grazing  the  plain  at  large.     And  father  Anchises  [calls  out], 
War,  O  hospitable  land,  thou  betokenest  ;44  for  war  steeds  are 
harnessed ;  war  these  cattle  threaten :  but  yet,  the  same  quad- 
rupeds  having  long  been  used  to  submit  to  the  chariot,  and 
in  the  yoke  to  bear  the  peaceful  reins,  there  is  hope,  also,  of 
peace,  he  says.     Then  we  address  our  prayers  to  the  sacred 
majesty  of  Pallas,  with  clashing  arms  arrayed,  who  first-  re- 
ceived us  elated  with  joy ;  and  before  her  altars  we  vailed  our 
heads  with  a  Phrygian  vail;  and  according  to  the  instructions 
of  Helenus,  on  which  he  laid  the  greatest  stress,  in  due  form 
we  offer  up  to  Argive  Juno   the  honors  enjoined.     Without 
delay,  as  soon  as  we  had  regularly  fulfilled  our  vows,  we  turn 
about  the  extremities   of  our  sail-yards,  and  quit  the  abodes 
and  suspected  territories  of  the  sons  of  Greece.     Next  is  seen 
the  bay  of  Tarentum,  sacred  to  Hercules,  if  report  be  true ; 
and  the  Lacinian45  goddess  rears  herself  opposite :  the  towers 
of  Caulon43  [also  appear],  and  Scylaceum  infamous  for  ship- 

44  Cf.  Mu.  iv.  840,  "tristia  omnia  portans."  Petron.  §  124,  "incendia 
portat."     See  also  "Westerhov.  on  Ter.  Andr.  i.  1,  46.     B. 

45  Lacinian  goddess ;  that  is,  Juno  Lacinia,  who  had  a  celebrated  tem- 
ple near  Crotona,  a  city  of  Calabria  in  Italy. 

48  Caulon  and  Scylaceum  (Squillace),  both  towns  of  Calabria,  south 
pf  Crotona. 

8 


170  ^ENEID.  B.  ra.  554— 588. 

wrecks.  Then,  far  from  the  waves,  is  seen  Trinacrian  ^Etna ; 
and  from  a  distance  we  hear  a  loud  growling  of  the  ocean, 
the  beaten  rocks,  and  the  murmurs  of  breakers  on  the  coast : 
the  deep"  leaps  up,  and  sands  are  mingled  with  the  tide.  And, 
[says]  father  Anchises,  Doubtless  this  is  the  famed  Charybdis ; 
these  shelves,  these  hideous  rocks  Helenus  foretold.  Kescue 
us,  my  friends,  and  with  equal  ardor  rise  on  your  oars.  They 
do  no  otherwise  than  bidden;  and  first  Palinurus  whirled 
about  the  creaking  prow  to  the  left  waters.  The  whole  crew, 
with  oars  and  sails,  bore  to  the  left.  We  mount  up  to  heaven 
on  the  arched  gulf,  and  down  again  we  settle  to  the  shades 
below,  the  wave  having  retired.  Thrice  the  rocks  bellowed 
amid  their  hollow  caverns ;  thrice  we  saw  the  foam  dashed  up, 
and  the  stars  drenched  with  its  dewy  moisture. 

Meanwhile  the  wind  when  the  sun  forsook  us  spent  with 
toil ;  and  not  knowing  our  course,  we  near  the  coasts  of  the 
Cyclops.  The  port  itself  is  ample,  and  undisturbed  by  the 
access  of  the  winds ;  but,  near  it,  JEtna  thunders  with  horri- 
ble ruins,  and  sometimes  sends  forth  to  the  skies  a  black  cloud, 
ascending  in  a  pitchy  whirlwind  of  smoke  and  glowing  em- 
bers; throws  up  balls  of  flame,  and  kisses  the  stars:  some- 
times, belching,  hurls  forth  rocks  and  the  shattered  bowels  of 
the  mountain,  and  with  a  rumbling  noise  wreaths  aloft  the 
molten  rocks,  and  boils  up  from  its  lowest  bottom  It  is  said 
that  the  body  of  Enceladus,43  half  consumed  with  lightning,  is 
pressed  down  by  this  pile,  and  that  cumbrous  ^£tna,  laid 
above  him,  spouts  forth  flames  from  its  burst  furnaces ;  and 
that,  as  often  as  he  shifts  his  weary  side,  all  Trinacria,49  with 
a  groan,  inly  trembles,  and  overshades  the  heavens  with  smoke. 
Lying  that  night  under  covert  of  the  woods,  we  suffer  from 
those  hideous  prodigies;  nor  see  what  cause  produced  the 
sound.  For  neither  was  there  the  light  of  the  stars,  nor  was 
the  sky  enlightened  by  the  starry  firmament ;  but  gloom  was 
over  the  dusky  sky,  and  a  night  of  extreme  darkness  muffled 
up  the  moon  in  clouds. 

And  now  the  next  day  with  the  first  dawn  was  rising,  and 

^>  "  Vada"  must  not  be  rendered  "shallows."     See  Heyne.     B. 

2  Enceladus,  the  son  of  Titan  and  Terra,  and  the  most  powerful  of  all 
the  giants,  who  conspired  against  Jupiter.  According  to  the  poets,  he  was 
struck  with  Jupiter's  thunders,  and  overwhelmed  under  Mount  JEtna. 

49  Trinacria,  an  ancient  name  of  tho  Island  of  Sicily,  from  its  three 
promontories. 


B.  ni.  589—626.  .ENEID.  171 

Aurora  had  dissipated  the  humid  shades  from  the  sky ;  when 
suddenly  a  strange  figure  of  a  man  unknown  to  us,  emaciated 
to  the  last  degree,  and  in  a  lamentable  plight,  stalks  from  the 
woods,  and,  with  the  air  of  a  suppliant,  stretches  forth  his 
hands  to  the  shore.  We  look  back :  he  was  in  horrid  filth, 
his  beard  overgrown,60  his  garment  tagged  with  thorns ;  but, 
in  all  besides,  he  was  a  Greek,  and  had  formerly  been  sent  to 
Troy  accompanying  the  arms  of  his  country.  As  soon  as  he  de- 
scried our  Trojan  dress  and  arms,  struck  with  terror  at  the 
sight,  he  paused  awhile,  and  stopped  his  progress  :  a  moment 
after,  rushed  headlong  to  the  shore  with  tears  and  prayers.  I 
conjure  you,  [says  he,]  by  the  stars,  by  the  powers  above,  by 
this  celestial  light  of  life,  ye  Trojans,  snatch  me  hence ;  con- 
vey me  to  any  climes  whatever,  I  shall  be  satisfied.  It  is  true, 
I  am  one  who  belonged  to  the  Grecian  fleet,  and,  I  confess,  I 
bore  arms  against  the  walls  of  Troy :  for  which,  if  the  demerit 
of  my  crime  be  so  heinous,  scatter  my  limbs  on  the  waves, 
and  bury  them  in  the  vast  ocean.  If  I  die,  I  shall  have  the 
satisfaction  of  dying  by  the  hands  of  men.  He  said,  and  clasp- 
ing our  knees,  and  wallowing  [on  the  ground],  clung  to  our 
knees.  We  urge  him  to  tell  who  he  is,  of  what  family  born ; 
and  next  to  declare  what  fortune  pursues  him.  My  father 
Anchises  frankly  gives  the  youth  his  right  hand,  and  re.-assures  ^ 
his  mind,  by  that  kind  pledge.  At  length,  fear  removed,  he 
thus  begins  :  I  am  a  native  of  Ithaca  ;  a  companion  of  the  un- 
fortunate Ulysses,  Achaemenides  my  name.  I  went  to  Troy, 
my  father  Adamastus  being  poor,  but  would  that  my  state  of 
life  had  remained  as  it  was :  Here,  in  the  huge  den  of  the 
Cyclop,  my  unmindful  companions  deserted  me,  while  in  con- 
sternation they  fled  from  his  cruel  abodes.  It  is  an  abode  of 
gore  and  bloody  banquets,  gloomy  within,  and  vast ;  [the  Cy- 
clop] himself,  of  towering  height,  beats  the  stars  on  high,  (ye 
gods,  avert  such  a  pest  from  the  earth  !)  fiercely  scowling  in 
his  aspect,  and  inaccessible  to  every  mortal :  he  feeds  on  the 
entrails  and  purple  blood  of  hapless  wretches.  I  myself  be- 
held, when,  having  grasped  in  his  rapacious  hand  two  of  our 
number,  as  he  lay  stretched  on  his  back  in  the  middle  of  the 
cave,  he  dashed  them  against  the  stones,  and  the  bespattered 
pavement  floated  with  their  blood  :  I  beheld,  when  he  ground 

5°  Cf.  Sisenna  apud  Non.  ii.  471,  "Complures  menses  barba  immissa, 
et  intonso  capillo."    B. 


172  ^ENEID.  B.  ill.  627—661. 

their  members  distilling  black  gore,  and  their  throbbing  limbs 
quivered  under  his  teeth."  Not  with  impunity,  it  is  true  ;  such 
barbarity  Ulysses  suffered  not  [to  pass  unrevenged],  nor  was 
the  prince  of  Ithaca  forgetful  of  himself  in  that  critical  hour. 
For  as  soon  as,  glutted  with  his  banquet,  and  buried  in  wine, 
he  reposed  his  reclined  neck  to  rest,  and  lay  at  his  enormous 
length  along  the  cave,  disgorging  blood  in  his  sleep,  and  gob- 
bets intermixed  with  gory  wine ;  we,  having  implored  the 
great  gods,  and  distributed  our  several  parts  by  lot,  pour  in 
upon  him  on  all  hands  at  once,  and  with  our  pointed  javelins 
bore  out  the  huge  single  eye  which  was  sunk  under  his  lower- 
ing front,  like  a  Grecian  buckler,  or  the  orb  of  Phoebe  ;  and 
at  length  we  joyfully  avenge  the  manes  of  our  friends.  But 
fly,  ah  wretches  !  fly,  and  tear  the  cables  from  the  shore.  For 
such  and  so  vast  Polyphemus52  [is,  who]  pens  in  his  hollow 
cave  the  fleecy  flocks,  and  drains  their  dugs,  a  hundred  other 
direful  Cyclops  commonly  haunt  these  winding  shores,  and 
roam  on  the  lofty  mountains.  The  horns  of  the  moon  are  now 
filling  up  with  light  for  the  third  time,  while  in  these  woods, 
among  the  desert  dens  and  holds  of  wild  beasts,  I  linger  out 
my  life,  and  descry  from  the  rock  the  vast  Cyclops,  and  quake 
at  the  sound  of  their  feet  and  voice.  The  berries  and  the 
stony  cornels,  which  the  branches  supply,  form  my  wretched 
sustenance,  and  the  herbs  feed  me  with  their  plucked-up  roots. 
Casting  my  eyes  around  on  every  object,  this  fleet  I  espied 
first  steering  to  the  shore  ;  to  it  I  was  resolved  to  give  up  my- 
self, whatever  it  had  been  ;  it  suffices  me  that  I  have  escaped 
from  that  horrid  crew.  Do  you  rather  destroy  this  life  by 
any  sort  of  death.  Scarcely  had  he  spoken  this,  when  on 
the  summit  of  the  mountain  we  observe  the  shepherd  Poly- 
phemus himself,  stalking  with  his  enormous  bulk  among  his 
flocks,  and  seeking  the  shore,  his  usual  haunt;  a  horrible 
monster,  misshapen,  vast,  of  sight  deprived.  The  trunk  of  a 
pine  guides  his  hand,  and  makes  firm  his  steps ;  his  fleecy 
sheep  accompany  him ;  this  is  his  sole  delight,  and  the  solace 
of  his  distresses :  [from  his  neck  his  whistle  hangs.™]  After 

51  The  reader  may  compare  Horn.  Od.  I.  288 ;  Eur.  Cycl.  3T9  sqq. ; 
Ovid  Met.  xiv.  205  sqq.     B. 

52  Polyphemus,  a  son  of  Neptune,  and  king  of  the  Cyclops.     He  is 
represented  as  a  monster  of  great  strength,  with  one  eye  in  the  middle 
of  the  forehead,  which  Ulysses  put  out  as  he  was  asleep. 

53  A  spurious  attempt  to  fill  up  the  verse.     B. 


B.  m.  662—694  -&3NEID.  173 

he  touched  the  deep  floods,  and  arrived  at  the  sea,  he  therewith 
washes  away  the  trickling  gore  from  his  quenched  orb,  gnash- 
ing his  teeth  with  a  groan :  and  now  he  stalks  through  the 
midst  of  the  sea,  while  the  waves  have  not  yet  wetted  his 
gigantic  sides.  We,  in  consternation,  hasten  our  flight  far 
from  that  shore,  having  received  our  suppliant,  who  thus 
merited  our  favor ;  we  silently  cut  the  cable,  and  bending  for- 
ward, sweep  the  sea  with  struggling  oars,  He  perceived,  and 
at  the  sound  turned  his  steps.  But  when  no  opportunity  is  af- 
forded him  to  reach  us  with  his  eager  grasp,  and  he  is  unable 
in  pursuing  us  to  equal  the  Ionian  waves,  he  raises  a  prodigious 
yell,  wherewith  the  sea  and  every  wave  deeply  trembled,  and 
Italy,  to  its  utmost  bounds,  was  affrighted,  and  JEtna  bel- 
lowed through  its  winding  caverns.  Meanwhile  the  race  of 
the  Cyclops,  roused  from  the  woods  and  lofty  mountains,  rush 
to  the  port,  and  crowd  the  shore.  We  perceive  the  ^Etnean 
brothers,  standing  side  by  side  in  vain,  with  lowering  eye,  bear- 
ing their  heads  aloft  to  heaven ;  a  horrid  assembly  :  as  when 
aerial  oaks,  or  cone-bearing  cypresses,  Jove's  lofty  wood,  01 
Diana's  grove,  together  near  their  towering  tops.  Sharp  fear 
impels  our  crew  to  tack  about  to  any  quarter  whatever,  and 
spread  their  sails  to  any  favorable  wind.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  commands  of  Helenus  warn  them  not  to.  continue  their 
course  between  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  a  path  which  borders  on 
death  on  either  hand  :  our  resolution  [therefore]  is,  to  sail  back- 
ward. 

And  lo  !  the  north-wind  sent  from  the  narrow  seat  of  Pelorus 
comes  to  our  aid.  I  am  wafted  beyond  the  mouth  of  Panta- 
gia,"  formed  of  natural  rock,  the  bay  of  Megara,  and  low-lying 
lapsus.  These  Achaemenides,  the  associate  of  accursed  Ulysses, 
pointed  out  to  us,  as  backward  he  cruised  along  the  scenes  of 
his  wanderings. 

Before  the  Sicilian  bay  outstretched  lies  an  island  opposite 
to  rough  Plemmyrium  ;65  the  ancients  called  its  name  Orty, 
gia.60  It  is  said,  that  Alpheus,  a  river  of  Elis,  hath  hither 

54  Pantagia,  a  small  but  rapid  river  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Sicily,  be- 
tween Catana  and  Syracuse.     Tapsus,  a  peninsula  in  the  bay  of  Megara, 
north  of  Syracuse. 

55  Plemmyrium,  a  promontory  in  the  bay  of  Syracuse. 

56  Ortygia,  a  small  island  within  the  same  bay,  in  which  was  the  cele/ 
brated  fountain  Arethusa. 


174  jENEID.  B.m.  695 — 718. 

worked  a  secret  channel  under  the  sea  ;  which,  by  thy  mouth, 

0  Arethusa,  is  now  blended  with   the  Sicilian  waves.     We 
venerate  the  great  divinities  of  the  place,  as  commanded  ;  and 
thence  I  pass  the  too  luxuriant  soil  of  the  overflowing  Helo- 
rus."     Hence  we  skim  along  the  high  cliffs    and   prominent 
rocks  of  Pachynus ;  and  at  a  distance  appears  Camarina,  by 
fate  forbidden  to  be  ever  removed ;    the  Geloian   plains  and 
huge  Gela,  called  by  the  name  of  the  river.     Next  lofty  Acra- 
gas*8  shows  from  far  its  stately  walls,  once    the   breeder  of 
generous  steeds.     And  thee,  Selinus,  fruitful  in  palms,  I  leave, 
by  means  of  the  given  winds ;  and  I  trace  my  way  through 
the  shallows  of  Lilybeum,69   dangerous    through   its   hidden 
rocks.     Hence  the  port  and  joyless  coast  of  Drepanum  receive 
me.     Here,  alas !  after  being  tossed  by  so  many  storms  at  sea, 

1  lose  my  sire  Anchises,  my  solace  in  every  care  and  suffer- 
ing.    Here  thou,  best  of  fathers,  whom  in  vain,  alas  !  I  saved 
from  so  great  dangers,  forsakest  me  spent  with  toils.     Neither 
prophetic  Helenus,  when  he  gave  me  many  fearful  warnings, 
nor  dire  Celaeno,  predicted  to  me  this  mournful  stroke.     This 
was  my  finishing  disaster,  this    the   termination  of  my  long 
tedious  voyage.     Parting   hence,  a  god  directed  me  to  your 
coasts. 

Thus  father  ^Eneas,  while  all  sat  attentive,  alone  recounted 
the  destiny  allotted  to  him  by  the  gods,  and  gave  a  history  of 
his  voyage.  He  ceased  at  length,  and,  having  here  finished 
his  relation,  rested. 

57  Helorua  (Abisso),  a  river  of  Sicily,  south  of  Syracuse,  which  over- 
flowed its  banks  at  certain  seasons.  Camarina,  a  lake"  and  Gela,  a  city 
on  the  southern  coast  of  Sicily. 

53  Acragas,  called  also  Agrigentum  (Girgenti),  a  celebrated  city  of 
Sicily,  built  on  a  mountain  of  the  same  name,  Selinus,  a  city  in  the 
south-west  of  Sicily,  the  vicinity  of  which  abounded  with  palm-trees. 

59  Lilybeum  (Cape  Boee),  one  of  the  three  famous  promontories  of 
Sicily.  Drepanum  (Trapani),  a  town  on  the  western  coast  of  Sicily, 
near  Mount  Erix,  where  Anchises  died. 


B.  iv.  1—28.  2ENEID.  175 


BOOK  IV. 

In  the  Fourth  Book,  Queen  Dido  becomes  deeply  enamored  of  .<Eneas,  to ' 
whom  she  proffers  her  hand  and  her  crown ;  but,  on  finding  him  deter- 
mined, in  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  gods,  to  leave  Carthage,  rage 
and  despair  took  possession  of  the  unhappy  queen.  At  last,  the  sudden 
departure  of  tineas  led  to  the  fatal  catastrophe  of  her  death,  by  her  own 
hand,  on  the  funeral  pile  which  she  had  erected. 

Bur  the  queen,  long  since  pierced  with  painful  care,  feeds  the 
wound  in  her  veins,  and  is  consumed  by  unseen  flames.1  The 
many  virtues  of  the  hero,  the  many  honors  of  his  race,  recur 
to  her  thoughts :  his  looks  and  words  dwell  fixed  in  her  soul : 
nor  does  care  allow  calm  rest  to  her  limbs.  Returning  Aurora 
now  illuminated  the  earth  with  the  lamp  of  Phoebus,  and  had 
chased  away  the  dewy  shades  from  the  sky,  when  she,  half- 
frenzied,  thus  addresses  her  sympathizing  sister :  Sister  Anna, 
what  dreams  terrify  and  distract  my  mind !  What  think  you 
of3  this  wondrous  guest  who  has  come  to  our  abodes  ?  In  mien 
how  graceful  he  appears !  in  manly  fortitude  and  warlike  deeds 
how  great!  I  am  fully  persuaded  (nor  is  my  belief  ground- 
less) that  he  is  the  offspring  of  the  gods.  Fear  argues  a  de- 
generate mind.  Ah  !  by  what  fatal  disasters  has  he  been 
tossed  !  what  toils  of  war  he  sang,  endured  to  the  last  !3  Had 
I  not  been  fixed  and  steadfast  in  my  resolution,  never  to  join 
myself  to  any  in  the  bonds  of  wedlock,  since  my  first  love  by 
death  mocked  and  disappointed  me  ;  had  I  not  been  thoroughly 
tired  of  the  marriage-bed  and  nuptial  torch,  to  this  one  frailty 
I  might  perhaps  give  way.  Anna  (for  I  will  own  it),  since 
the  decease  of  my  unhappy  spouse  Sicha3us,  and  since  the  house- 
hold gods  were  stained  with  his  blood  shed  by  a  brother,  this 
[stranger]  alone  has  warped  my  inclinations,  and  interested 
my  wavering  mind :  I  recognize  the  symptoms  of  my  former 
flame.  But  sooner  may  earth  from  her  lowest  depths  yawn 
for  me,  or  the  almighty  Sire  hurl  me  by  his  thunder  to  the 
shades,  the  pale  shades  of  Erebus  and  deep  night,  than  I  vio- 
late thee,  modesty,  or  break  thy  laws.  He  who  first  linked 

1  Of.  Aristenet.  Ep.  ii.  5,  eKpoaKerai  yap  ps  rif  dvspfujvevTof  odvv?].  B. 

2  Davidson  has  better  expressed  the  force  of  this  Greek  construction 
than  Anthon.     CC  Soph.  Ant  7  ;  EL  328  ;  ^Esch.  Ch.  8.     B. 

3  Literally,  "  drained  to  the  dregs,"    Cf.  Mn.  x.  67.     B. 


176  ^ENEID.  B.  rv.  28 — GO. 

me  to  himself  hath  borne  away  my  affection ;  may  he  possess 
it  still,  and  retain  it  in  his  grave.  This  said,  she  filled  her 
bosom  with  trickling  tears.  Anna  replies -.  O  dearer  to  your 
sister  than  the  light,  will  you  thus  in  mournful  solitude  waste 
your  bloom  of  youth,  nor  know  the  dear  delights  of  children, 
the  rewards  of  love  ?  Think  you  that  ashes  and  the  buried 
dead  care  for  that  ?4  What  though  no  lovers  moved  you  before, 
when  your  sorrows  were  green,  either  in  Libya,  or  before  in 
Tyre?  what  though  larbas*  was  slighted,  and  other  princes 
whom  Afric,  fertile  in  triumphs,  maintains  ?  Will  you  also  re- 
sist a  flame  which  you  approve  ?  Will  you  not  reflect  in  whose 
country  you  now  reside  ?  Here  the  Getulian8  cities,  a  race 
invincible  in  war,  unrestrained  Numidians,  and  inhospitable 
quicksands,  inclose  you  round ;  there,  a  region,  by  thirst 
turned  into  a  desert,  and  the  wide-raging  Barcseans.  Why 
should  I  mention  the  kindling  wars  from  Tyre,  and  the  men- 
aces of  your  brother?  It  .was  surely,  I  think,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  gods,  and  by  the  favor  of  Juno,  that  the  Tro- 
jan ships  steered  their  course  to  this  our  coast.  O  sister,  how 
flourishing  shall  you  see  this  city,  how  potent  your  kingdom 
rise  from  such  a  match !  ]3y  what  high  exploits  shall  the  Car- 
thaginian glo;y  be  advanced,  when  the  Trojan's  aims  join 
them  !  Do  thou  but  supplicate  the  favor  of  the  gods,  and, 
having  performed  propitiating  rites,  indulge  in  hospitality, 
and  devise  one  pretense  after  another  for  detaining  [your 
guest],  while  winter's  fury  rages  on  the  sea,  and  Orion  charged 
with  rain;  while  his  ships  are  shattered,  and  the  sky  is  in- 
clement. 

By  this  speech  she  fanned  the  fire  of  love  kindled  in  Dido's 
breast,  buoyed  up  her  wavering  mind  with  hope,  and  banished 
her  scruples.  First  to  the  temples  they  repair,  and  by  sacri- 
fice the  peace  of  heaven  implore:  to  Ceres  the  lawgiver,  to 
Phoebus,  and  to  father  Bacchus,  they  offer  ewes  of  the  age  of 
two  years,  according  to  custom;  above  all  to  Juno,  whose 
province  is  the  nuptial  tie.  Dido  herself,  in  all  her  beauty, 

4  Petron.  §  iii.  "Id  cineres,  aut  manes  credis  sepultos  sentire?"  B. 

5  larbas,  a  son  of  Jupiter  and  Garamantis,  and  king  of  Getulia,  from 
whom  Dido  bought  land  to  build  Carthage.     He  was  a  lover  of  the 
queen  at  the  time  ./Eneas  came  to  Carthage. 

6  Getulians,  Numidians,  etc.,  the  inhabitants  of  countries  in  Northern 
Africa,  now  Algiers,  Barbary,  etc. 


u.  jr.  61 — 100.  ^ENEID.  1^7 

holding  in  her  right  hand  the  cup,  pours  it  between  the  horns 
of  a  white  heifer,;  or  before  the  images  of  the  gods  in  solemn 
pomp  around  the*  rich-loaded  altars  walks,  renews  one  offering 
after  another  all  the  day  long,  and,  gaping  over  the  disclosed 
breasts  of  the  victims,  consults  their  panting  entrails.  Alas  ! 
how  ignorant  the  minds  of  seers  !  what  can  prayers,  what  can 
temples,  avail  a  raging  lover  ?  The  gentle  flame  preys  all  the 
while  upon  her  vitals,  and  the  secret  wound  rankles  in  her 
breast.  Unhappy  Dido  burns,  and  frantic  roves  over  all  the 
town ;  like  a  wounded  deer,  whom,  off  her  guard,  a  shepherd 
pursuing  with  his  darts  has  pierced  at  a  distance  among  the 
Cretan  woods,  and  unknowingly  [in  the  wound]  hath  left  the 
winged  steel :  she  flying  bounds  over  the  Dictaean  woods  and 
glades :  the  fatal  shaft  sticks  in  her  side.  Now  she  conducts 
^Eneas  through  the  midst  of  her  fortifications  ;  shows  him  both 
the  treasures  brought  from  Tyre,  and  her  new  city  :  she  begins 
to  speak,  and  stops  short  in  the  middle  of  a  word.  When  day 
declines,  she  longs  to  have  the  same  banquets  renewed ;  and, 
fond  even  to  madness,  begs  again  to  hear  the  Trojan  disasters, 
and  again  hangs  on  the  speaker's  lips.  Now,  when  they  had 
severally  retired,  while  the  fading  moon  in  her  alternate  course 
withdraws  her  light,  and  the  setting  stars  invite  sleep,  she 
mourns  alone  in  the  desert  hall,  presses  the  c'ouch  which  he  had 
left,  and  in  fancy  hears  and  sees  the  absent  hero  ;  or,  captivated 
with  the  father's  image,  hugs  Ascanius  in  her  bosom,  if  possibly 
she  may  divert  her  unutterable  love.  The  towers  which  were 
begun  cease  to  rise  ;  her  youth  practice  not  their  warlike  ex- 
ercises, nor  prepare  ports  and  bulwarks  for  war ;  the  works  and 
the  huge  battlements  on  the  walls,  and  the  engines  that  mate 
the  skies,  are  discontinued. 

Whom  when  Jove's  beloved  wife  perceived  to  be  thus  pos- 
sessed with  the  blighting  passion,  and  that  even  sense  of  honor 
could  not  resist  its  rage,  Saturnia  thus  artfully  addresses  Venus  : 
Distinguished  praise,  no  doubt,  and  ample  spoils,  you  and  your 
boy  carry  off,  high  and  signal  renown,  if  one  woman  is  over- 
come by  the  wiles  of  two  deities.  Nor  am  I  quite  ignorant, 
that  you  apprehend  danger  from  our  walls,  and  view  the  struc- 
tures of  lofty  Carthage  with  a  jealous  eye.  But  where  will 
all  this  end  ?  or  what  do  we  now  propose  by  such  hot  conten- 
tion ?  Why  do  not  we  rather  promote  an  eternal  peace,  and 
nuptial  contract  ?  You  have  your  whole  souTa  desire ;  Dido 

8* 


178  -<£NEID.  B.  rv.  101— 129. 

burns  with  love,  and  has  sucked  the  fury  into  her  very  bones. 
Let  us  therefore  rule  this  people  in  common,  and  under  equal 
sway ;  let  Dido  be  at  liberty  to  bind  herself  in  wedlock  to  a 
Trojan  lord,  and  into  thy  hand  deliver  over  the  Tynans  by  way 
of  dowry. 

To  whom  Venus  (for  she  perceived  that  she  spoke  with  an 
insincere  mind,  with  a  design  to  transfer  the  seat  of  empire 
from  Italy  to  the  Libyan  coasts)  thus  in  her  turn  began  : 
Who  can  be  so  mad  as  to  reject  these  terms,  and  rather  choose 
to  engage  in  war  with  you,  would  fortune  but  concur  with  the 
scheme  which  you  mention  ?  But  I  am  driven  to  an  uncertainty 
by  the  Fates,  [not  knowing]  whether  it  be  the  will  of  Jupiter 
that  the  Tynans  and  Trojans  should  dwell  in  one  city,  or  if  he 
will  approve  the  union  of  the  two  nations,  and  the  joining  of 
alliance.  You  are  his  consort :  to  you  it  belongs  by  entreaty 
to  work  upon  his  mind.  Lead  you  the  way ;  I  will  follow. 
Then  imperial  Juno  thus  replied ;  That  task  be  mine :  mean- 
while (mark  my  words)  I  will  briefly  show  by  what  means  our 
present  design  may  be  accomplished.  ^Eneas  and  most  un- 
happy Dido  are  preparing  to  hunt  together  in  the  forest,  soon 
as  to-morrow's  sun  shall  have  brought  forth  the  early  dawn, 
and  enlightened  the  world  with  his  beams.  While  the  [brigJit- 
hued]  plumage  flutters,7  and  they  inclose  the  thickets  with 
toils,  I  will  pour  on  them  from  above  a  blackening  storm  of 
rain  with  mingled  hail,  and  with  peals  of  thunder  make  heav- 
en's whole  frame  to  shake.  'Their  retinue  shall  fly  different 
ways,  and  be  covered  with  a  dark  night  [of  clouds].  Dido  and 
the  Trojan  prince  shall  repair  to  the  same  cave :  there  will  I 
be  present,  and,  if  I  have  your  firm  consent,  I  will  join  them 
in  the  lasting  bonds  of  wedlock,  and  consecrate  her  to  be  his  for- 
ever. The  god  of  marriage8  shall  be  there.  Venus,  without 
any  opposition,  agreed  to  her  proposal,  and  smiled  at  the  fraud 
she  discovered. 

Meanwhile  Aurora  rising  left  the  ocean.     Soon  as  the  beams 

7  This  is  the  proper  meaning  of  "alae."  Of.  Ovid.  Met.  i.  106.  In 
hunting,  nets  were  drawn  around  a  considerable  space,  within  which  the 
beasts  were  driven.  In  order  to  scare  them  thither,  a  number  of  bright- 
colored  feathers  were  hung  to  strings  at  a  little  distance,  called  the 
'•formido."  It  was  chiefly  employed  in  hunting  deer.  C£  Ulit.  on 
Gratius  Cyneg.  77  and  85.  B. 

Hymen,  the  god  of  marriage,  was  the  son  of  Bacchus  and  Venus, 
or,  according  to  others,  of  Apollo  and  one  of  the  Muses. 


B.  IT.  130 — 157.  JENEID.  179 

of  day  shot  forth,  the  chosen  youth  issue  through  the  gates  : 
the  fine  nets,  the  toils,  the  broad-pointed  hunting  spears,  the 
Massylian9  horsemen,  and  a  pack  of  quick-scented  hounds, 
pour  forth  together.  Before  the  palace-gate  the  Carthaginian 
nobles  await  the  queen  lingering  in  her  alcove :  her  steed, 
richly  caparisoned  with  purple  and  gold,  ready  stands,  and 
fiercely  champs  the  foaming  bit.  At  length  she  comes  at- 
tended  by  a  numerous  retinue,  attired  in  a  Sidonian  chlamys 
with  embroidered  border :  she  has  a  quiver  of  gold ;  her 
tresses  are  tied  in  a  golden  knot ;  a  golden  buckle  binds  up  her 
purple  robe.  The  Trojan  youth,  too,  and  sprightly  lulus, 
accompany  the  procession.  ^Eneas  himself,  distinguished  in 
beauty  above  all  the  rest,  mingles  with  the  retinue,  and  adds 
his  train  to  hers :  as  when  Apollo,  leaving  Lycia,10  his  winter 
seat,  and  the  streams  of  Xanthus,  revisits  his  mother's  island 
Delos,  and  renews  the  dances  :  the  Cretans,  Dry  opes,11  and 
painted  Agathyrsi,12  mingle  their  acclamations  around  his 
altars :  he  himself  moves  majestic  on  Cynthus'  top,  and  ad- 
justing his  waving  hair,  crowns  it  with  a  soft  wreath,  and  in- 
folds it  in  gold  ;  his  arrows  rattle  on  his  shoulders.  With  no 
less  active  grace  ^Eneas  moved ;  such  comeliness  shines  forth 
in  his  matchless  mien.  Soon  as  they  reached  the  high  mount- 
ains, and  pathless  lairs,  lo !  from  the  summit  of  the  craggy 
cliff  the  wild  goats  dislodged  skip  down  the  rocks :  on  the 
other  side  the  stags  scour  along  the  open  plains,  and  gather 
together  in  flight  their  dust-covered  squadrons,  and  forsake 
the  mountains.  Now  the  boy  Ascanius  delights  in  his 
sprightly  courser  through  the  inclosed  vales ;  and  now  these, 
0  The  Massylians,  a  warlike  people  of  Mauritania  in  Africa,  near 
Mount  Atlas :  when  they  went  on  horseback,  they  never  used  saddles 
or  bridles  but  only  sticks. 

10  As  Dido  is  before  compared  to  Diana,  JEn.  i.  498,  so  ^Eneas  here  to 
Apollo,  the  brother  of  Diana.    It  was  a  common  opinion,  that  the  gods 
at  certain  times  of  the  year  changed  their  places  of  residence ;  and  Ser- 
vius  says  it  was  firmly  believed  that  Apollo  gave  responses  at  Patara,  a 
city  of  Lycia,  during  the  six  months  of  winter,  and  at  Delos  in  the  sum- 
mer months.     Hence  Apollo  is  called  Delius  and  Patareus,  Hor.  Carm. 
iil  4,  62. 

qui  Lyciae  tenet 

Dumeta,  natalemque  silvam, 
Delius  et  Patareus  Apollo. 

11  Dryopes,  a  people  of  Greece,  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  (Eta  and 
Parnassus. 

13  Agathyrsi,  an  effeminate  nation  of  Scythia. 


180  -rfENEID.  B.  iv.  158—190. 

now  those  lie  outrides,  and  devoutly  wishes  that  a  foaming  boar 
would  cross  his  way  amid  the  feeble  flocks,  or  'a  tawny  lion 
descend  from  the  mountain. 

Meanwhile  the  air  begins  to  be  disturbed  with  loud  murmur- 
ings  ;  a  deluge  of  rain  with  mingled  hail  succeeds.  And  here 
and  there  the  Tyrian  train,  the  Trojan  youth,  and  Venus' 
grandchild  of  Dardanian  line,  for  fear  sought  different  shelters 
through  the  fields.  Whole  rivers  from  the  mountains  come 
pouring  down.  Dido  and  the  Trojan  prince  repair  to  the 
same  cave.  [Then]  first  the  Earth,  and  Juno  who  presides 
over  marriage,  gave  the  signal  :  lightnings  flashed,  the  sky 
was  a  witness  to  the  alliance,  and  the  nymphs  were  heard  to 
shriek  on  the  mountain  tops.  That  day  first  proved  the 
source  of  death,  the  source  of  woes  :  for  [now]  Dido  is  neither 
influenced  by  appearance  or  character,  nor  is  she  now  studious 
to  carry  on  clandestine  love  :  she  calls  it  marriage  :  she  vails13 
her  guilt  under  that  name. 

Forthwith  Fame1*  through  the  populous  city  of  Libya  runs  : 
Fame,  than  whom  no  pest  is  more  swift,  by  exerting  her 
agility  grows  more  active,  and  acquires  strength  on  her  way  : 
small  at  first  through  fear  ;  soon  she  shoots  up  into  the  skies, 
and  stalks  along  the  ground,  while  she  hides  her  head  among 
the  clouds.  Parent  Earth,  enraged  by  the  vengeance  of  the 
gods,  produced  her  the  youngest  sister,  it  is  said  of  Coeus,  and 
Enceladus,  swift  to  move  with  feet  and  persevering  wings  :  a 
monster  hideous,  immense  ;  who  (wondrous  to  relate  !)  for  as 
many  plumes  as  are  in  her  body,  numbers  so  many  wakeful 
eyes  beneath,  so  many  tongues,  so  many  babbling  mouths, 
pricks  up  so  many  listening  ears.  By  night,  through  the  mid 
region  of  the  sky,  and  through  the  shades  of  earth,  she  flies 
buzzing,  nor  inclines  her  eyes  to  balmy  rest.  Watchful  by 
day,  she  perches  either  on  some  high  house-top,  or  on  lofty 
turrets,  and  fills  mighty  cities  with  dismay;  as  obstinately 
bent  on  falsehood  and  iniquity  as  on  reporting  truth.  She 
then,  delighted,  with  various  rumors  filled  the  people's  ear, 
and  uttered  facts  and  fictions  indifferently  ;  [namely,]  that 

18  More  literally,  "  she  weaves  over  her  fault  with  this  title."  D'Orvillo 
on  Chariton,  p.  82,  compares  Ovid  Her.  v.  131,  "  vim  licet  appelles,  et 
culpam  nomine  veles."  Aristoph.  Plut.  159,  ovojuari  wspiiTETovai  rf/v 


. 

14  Fame  was  worshiped  by  the  ancients  as  a  powerful  goddess,  and 
generally  represented  blowing  a  trumpet,  etc. 


B.  IV.  191—216.  JENEID.  181 

^Eneas,  sprung  from  Trojan  blood,  had  arrived,  whom  Dido, 
•with  all  her  charms,  vouchsafed  to  wed ;  that  now  in  reveling 
with  each  other  they  enjoyed  the  winter,  throughout  its  length, 
unmindful  of  their  kingdoms,  and  enslaved  by  a  base  passion. 

With  such  news  the  foul  goddess  fills  the  mouths  of  the 
people.  To  king  larbus  straight  she  turns  her  course;  in- 
flames his  soul  by  her  rumors,  and  aggravates  his  rage.  This 
larbus,  the  son  of  Ammon  by  the  ravished  nymph  Gara- 
mantis,  raised  to  Jove  a  hundred  lofty  temples  within  his 
extensive  realms,  a  hundred  altars ;  and  there  had  he  conse- 
crated the  wakeful  fire,  with  a  sacred  watch  to  keep  eternal 
guard,  a  piece  of  ground,  fattened  with  victims'  blood,  and 
the  gates  '  adorned  with  wreaths  of  various  flowers.  He, 
maddened  in  soul,  and  inflamed  by  the  bitter  tidings,  is  said, 
before  the  altars,  amid  the  very  presence  of  the  gods,  to  have 
[thus]  importunately  addressed  Jupiter  in  suppliant  form 
with  uplifted  hands :  Almighty  Jove,  to  whom  the  Maurusian 
race,  that  feast  on  painted  couches,  now  honor  thee  with  a 
libation  of  wine,  seest  thou  these  things?  or  do  wo  vainly 
dread  thee,  when  thou,  O  father !  dartest  thy  thunder-bolts  ? 
and  are  those  lightnings  in  the  clouds  that  terrify  our  minds 
blind  and  fortuitous,  and  do  they  mingle  mere  idle  sounds? 
A  wandering  woman,  who  hath  built  in  our  dominions  a  small 
city  [on  a  spot]  she  purchased ;  to  whom  we  assigned  a  tract 
of  shore  for  tillage,  and  upon  whom  we  imposed  the  laws  of 
the  country,  hath  rejected  our  proffered  match,  and  hath  taken 
^Eneas  into  her  kingdom  for  her  lord :  and  now  this  other 
Paris,1*  with  his  unmanly16  train,  bound  under  the  chin  with 
a  Lydian  cap,"  and  with  his  locks  bedewed  [with  odors],  en- 

15  He  calls  ^Eneas  Paris,  both  to  denote  him  effeminate,  and  a  ravisher, 
one  who  had  carried  off  from  him  that  princess  whom  he  looked  upon  as 
his  property,  and  thought  he  had  a  right  to  marry.  In  allusion  to  which 
rape,  he  says  at  the  end  of  the  sentence,  rapto  potitur. 

18  Is  said  in  allusion  to  the  manner  of  the  Phrygians,  who  were  great 
worshipers  of  the  goddess  Cybele,  whose  priests  were  eunuchs. 

11  Mseonian  or  Lydian  miter,  a  sort  of  bonnet  wore  by  the  Lydian  and 
Phrygian  women,  a  part  of  dress  which  would  have  been  quite  infamous 
in  a  man,  especially  when  it  had  the  redimicula  or  fillets,  wherewith  it 
was  tied  under  the  chin,  mentum  subnexus : 

Vobis  picta  croco  et  fulgenti  murice  vestis ; 

Desidise  cordi ;  juvat  indulgere  choreis ; 

Et  tunicas  manicas  et  habent  redimicula  nitrae : 

O  vere  Phrygise,  neque  enim  Phryges !     Mn.  ix.  14. 


182  ^ENEID.  B.  IV.  217— 247,   . ,,. , 

joys  the  ravished  prize  :  [this  we  have  deserved  forsooth,]  be- 
cause we  bring  offerings  to  thy  temples,  and  cherish  an  idle 
glory,1' 

While  in  such  terms  he  addressed  his  prayer,  and  grasped 
the  altar,  the  almighty  heard,  and  turned  his  eyes  toward 
the  royal  towers  [of  Carthage],  and  the  lovers  regardless  of 
their  better  fame.  Then  thus  he  bespeaks  Mercury,  and  gives 
him  these  instructions :  Fly  quick,  my  son,  call  the  zephyrs, 
and  on  thy  pinions  glide :  and  to  the  Trojan  prince,  who  now 
loiters  in  Tyrian  Carthage,  nor  regards  the  cities  allotted  him 
by  the  Fates,  address  yourself ;  and  bear  [this]  my  message 
swiftly  through  the  skies.  Not  such  a  one  did  his  fairest 
mother  promise  us,  nor  was  it  for  this  she  saved  him  twice 
from  the  Grecian  sword:  but  that  he  should  be  one  who 
should  rule  Italy,  big  with  [future]  empire,  and  fierce  in  war, 
who  should  evince  his  descent  from  Teucer's  noble  blood,  and 
bring  the  whole  world  under  his  sway.  If  he  is  not  fired 
by  the  glory  of  such  deeds,  nor  will  himself  attempt  any 
laborious  enterprise  for  his  own  renown,  will  he,  the  father, 
envy  Ascanius  Rome's  imperial  towers  ?  What  does  he  pro- 
pose 2  or  with  what  prospect  lingers  he  so  long  among  an  un- 
friendly race,  nor  regards  his  Ausonian  offspring,  and  Lavin- 
ian  fields  ?  Bid  him  set  sail.  No  more :  be  this  our  mes- 
sage. 

He  said :  Mercury  prepared  to  obey  his  mighty  father's 
will :  and  first  to  his  feet  he  binds  his  golden  sandals,  which 
by  their  wings  waft  him  aloft,  whether  over  sea  or  land,  swift 
as  the  rapid  gales.  Next  he  takes  his  wand ;  with  this  he 
calls  from  hell  the  pale  ghosts,  dispatches  others  down  to  sad 
Tartarus,  gives  sleep,  or  takes  it  away,  and  unseals  the  eyes 
from  death.1'  Aided  by  this,  he  drives  along  the  winds,  and 
breasts  the  troubled  clouds.  And  now  in  his  flight  he  espies 
the  top  and  lofty  sides  of  hardy  Atlas,20  who  with  his  summit 

18  i.  e.  of  being  thy  descendants.     B. 

19  This  explanation  is  neatly  supported  in  Anthon's  note.     B. 

20  Atlas,  one  of  the  Titans,  son  of  Japetus  and  Clymene.     He  was  king 
of  Mauritania,  and  upon  Perseus  showing  him  the  head  of  Medusa,  was 
changed  into  the  mountain  which  bears  his  name.     Mount  Atlas  runs 
across  the  deserts  of  Africa,  east  and  west,  and  is  so  high  that  the  an- 
cients imagined  that  the  heavens  rested  on  its  top,  and  that  Atlas  sup- 
ported the  world  on  his  shoulders. 


'..  .  ,  •   '  /tf - 

a.  XT.  248— 282.  JENEID.  183 

supports  the  sky ;  Atlas,  whose  head,  crowned  with  pines,  is 
always  encircled  with  black  clouds,  and  lashed  by  wind  and 
rain :  large  sheets  of  snow  enwrap  his  shoulders ;  from  his 
aged  chin  torrents  headlong  roll,  and  his  grizzly  beard  is  stiff 
with  icicles.  Here  first  Cyllenius,21  poising  himself  on  even 
wings,  alighted ;  hence  with  the  weight  of  his  whole  body  he 
flings  himself  headlong  to  the  floods;  like  the  fowl,  which 
[hovering]  about  the  shores,  about  the  fishy  rocks,  flies  low 
near  the  surface  of  the  seas :  just  so  Maia's  son,  shooting 
down  from  his  maternal  grandsire  betweeen  heaven  and  earth, 
[skimmed  along]  the  sandy  shore  of  Libya,  and  cut  the 
winds.2*  As  soon  as  he  touched  the  cottages  [of  Afric]  with 
his  winged  feet,  he  views  ^Eneas  founding  towers,  and  rais- 
ing new  structures ;  and  at  his  side  he  wore  a  sword  studded 
with  yellow  jasper,  and  a  cloak  hanging  down  from  his 
shoulders,  glowed  with  Tyrian  purple  :  presents  which  wealthy 
Dido  had  given,  and  had  interwoven  the  stuff  with  threads  of 
gold.  Forthwith  he  accosts  him  :  Is  it  for  you  now  to  be  lay- 
ing the  foundations  of  stately  Carthage,  and  the  fond  slave  of 
a  wife,  be  raising  a  city  [for  her],  regardless,  alas !  of  your 
kingdom  and  nearest  concerns?  The  sovereign  of  the  gods, 
who  governs  heaven  and  earth  by  his  nod,  himself  sends  me 
down  to  you  from  bright  Olympus.  The  same  commanded 
me  to  bear  these  his  instructions  swiftly  through  the  air.  What 
dost  thou  propose,  with  what  prospect  dost  thou  waste  thy 
peaceful  hours  in  the  territories  of  Libya?  If  no  glory  from 
such  deeds  move  thee,  and  thou  wilt  attempt  no  laborious  en- 
terprise for  thy  own  renown ;  have  some  regard  [at  least]  to 
the  rising  Ascanius,  and  the  hopes  of  thine  heir  lulus,  for 
whom  the  kingdom  of  Italy  and  the  Roman  territories  are 
destined.  When  Cyllenius  had  spoken  thus,  he  left  mortal 
vision  in  the  very  midst  of  the  conference,  and  far  beyond  sight 
vanished  into  thin  air. 

Meanwhile  ^Eneas,  entranced  by  the  vision,  was  struck 
dumb ;  his  hair  with  horror  stood  erect,  and  his  tongue 
cleaved  to  his  jaws.  He  burns  to  be  gone  in  flight,  and  leave 
the  darling  land,  awed  by  the  message  and  dread  command  of 

21  Cyllenius,  a  name  of  Mercury,  from  Cyllene,  a  mountain  of  Arca- 
dia, where  he  was  born. 

22  This  whole  passage  is  probably  spurious.     See  Anthon.     The  zeug- 
ma in  the  last  line  is  intolerable.     B. 


184  vENEID.  B.  IT.  283— 313. 

the  gods.  Ah !  what  can  he  do  ?  in  what  terms  can  he  now 
presume  to  solicit  the  consent  of  the"  raving  queen  ?  With 
what  words  shall  he  introduce  the  subject?  And  now  this 
way,  now  that,  he  swiftly  turns  his  wavering  mind,  snatches 
various  purposes  by  starts,  and  roams  uncertain  through  all. 
Thus  fluctuating,  he  fixed  on  this  resolution  as  the  best :  he 
calls  to  him  Mnestheus,"4  Sergestus,  and  the  brave  Cloanthus; 
[and  bids  them]  with  silent  care  equip  the  fleet,  summon  their 
social  bands  to  the  shore,  prepare  their  arms,  and  artfully  con- 
ceal the  cause  of  this  sudden  change  :  [adding,]  that  he  him- 
self, in  the  mean  time,  while  generous  Dido  was  in  ignorance, 
and  had  no  apprehension  that  their  so  great  loves  could  be  dis- 
solved, would  try  the  avenues  [to  her  heart],  what  may  be 
the  softest  moments  of  address,  what  means  might  be  most  fa- 
vorable to  their  design.  With  joyful  speed  they  all  obey  the 
commands,  and  put  his  orders  in  execution. 

But  the  queen  (who  can  deceive  a  lover  ?)  was  beforehand 
in  perceiving  the  fraud,  and  the  first  who  conjectured  their 
future  motions,  dreading  even  where  all  seemed  to  be  safe : 
the  same  malignant  fame  conveyed  the  news  to  her  frantic, 
that  the  fleet  was  being  equipped,  and  preparing  to  set  sail. 
She  rages  even  to  madness,  and  inflamed,  she  wildly  roams 
through  all  the  city ;  like  a  Bacchanal  wrought  up  into  en- 
thusiastic fury  in  celebrating  the  sacred  [mysteries  of  her 
god],  when  the  triennial  orgies  stimulate  her,  at  hearing  the 
name  of  Bacchus,  and  the  nocturnal  howlings  on  Mount 
Citheron  invite  her.  At  length,  in  these  words  she  first  ac- 
costs ./Eneas :  And  didst  thou  hope,  too,  perfidious  one,  to  be 
able  to  conceal  from  me  so  wicked  a  purpose,  and  to  steal 
away  in  silence  from  my  coasts  ?  Can  neither  our  love,  nor 
thy  once  plighted  faith,  nor  Dido  resolved  to  die  by  a  cruel 
death,  detain  thee  ?  Nay,  you  prepare  your  fleet  even  in  the 
wintery  season,  and  haste  to  launch  into  the  deep  amid 
northern  blasts !  Cruel  one  !  suppose  you  were  not  bound 
for  a  foreign  land  and  settlements  unknown,  and  old  Troy 
was  still  remaining  ;  should  you  set  sail  for  Troy  on  this  tem- 

as  Literally,  "  to  get  around."    ANTHOH. 

24  Mnestheus,  a  Trojan,  descended  from  Assaracus:  he  obtained  a 
prize  at  tHfe  funeral  games  of  Anchises,  and  was  the  progenitor  of  the 
Memmii  at  Rome.  Sergestus,  a  sailor  in  the  fleet  of  ./Eneas,  from  whom 
the  family  of  the  Sergii  at  Rome  were  descended.  Cloanthus,  one  of 
the  companions  of  ./Eneas,  the  ancestor  of  the  Cluentii  family  at  Rome. 


B.  iv.  314—346.  ^EJiTEID.  185 

pestuous  sea  ?  Wilt  thou  fly  from  me  \  By  these24  tears,  by 
that  right  hand  (since  I  have  left  nothing  else  to  myself  now, 
a  wretch  forlorn),  by  our  nuptial  rites,  by  our  conjugal  loves 
begun  ;  if  I  have  deserved  any  thanks  at  thy  hand,  or  if  ever 
you  saw  any  charms  in  me,  take  pity,  I  implore  thee,  on  a 
tailing  race,  and,  if  yet  there  is  any  room  for  prayers,  lay 
aside  your  resolution.  For  thy  sake  have  I  incurred  the 
hatred  of  the  Libyan  nations,  of  the  Numidian  princes,  and 
made  the  Tynans  my  enemies ;  for  thy  sake  have  I  sacrified 
my  shame,  and,  what  alone  raised  me  to  the  stars,  my  former 
fame  :  to  whom  dost  thou  abandon  Dido,  soon  about  to  die, 
my  guest !  since,  instead  of  a  husband's  name,  only  this  re- 
mains ?2G  What  wait  I  for  I  is  it  till  my  brother  Pygmalion 
lay  this  city  of  mine  in  ashes,  or  larbas,  the  Getulian,  carry  mo 
away  his  captive  ?  Had  I  but  enjoyed  offspring  by  thee  before 
thy  flight ;  did  a  young  /flneas  play  in  my  hall,  were  it  but  to 
give  me  thy  image  in  his  features,  I  should  not  indeed  have 
thought  myself  quite  a  captive  and  forlorn. 

She  said.  He,  by  the  commands  of  Jove,  held  his  eyes 
unmoved,  and  with  hard  struggles  suppressed  the  anxious 
care  i:i  his  heart.  At  length  he  briefly  replies,  That  you,  O 
queen,  have  laid  on  me  numerous  obligations,  which  you  may 
recount  at  large,  I  never  shall  disown ;  and  I  shall  always  re- 
member Elisa  with  pleasure,  while  I  have  any  remembrance 
of  myself,  while  I  have  a  soul  to  actuate  these  limbs.  But  to 
the  point  in  debate  I  shall  briefly  speak  :  believe  me,  I  neither ' 
thought  by  stealth  to  have  concealed  this  my  flight,  nor  did  I 
ever  pretend  a  lawful  union,  or  enter  into  such  a  contract. 
Had  the  Fates  left  me  free  to  conduct  my  life  by  my  own  di- 
rection, and  ease  my  cares  according  to  my  own  choice ;  my 
first  regards  had  been  shown  to  Troy  and  the  dear  relics  of 
my  country ;  Priam's  lofty  palace  should  [now]  remain,  and 
with  this  hand  I  would  have  repaired  for  the  conquered  the 
walls  of  Pergamus,  raised  again  from  ruin.  But  now  to  great 
Italy  Grynaean  Apollo,  to  Italy  the  Lycian  oracles  have  com- 

"  For  this  collocation  of  words,  compare  Eur.  Andr.  892,  irpof  c£  rtiv 
d£  yovvdruv.  Hipp.  601,  Trpdf  a£  Tijf  ay?  digidf.  ^En.  x.  369.  Ter. 
Andr.  iii.  3,  6.  Tibull.  i.  5,  7.  B. 

26  Valpv  well  remarks,  that,  as  ^Eneas  disowns  the  nuptial  tie,  Dido 
addresses  him  by  the  title  of  guest,  which  he  can  not  reject.  Seneca  has 
expressed  the  same  idea,  Here.  Fur.  1,  "  Soror  Tonantis,  hoc  enim  solum 
mini  nomen  rehctum  est."  B. 


186  ^ENEID.  B.  iv.  347—377. 

manded  me  to  repair.  This  is  the  object  of  my  love,  this  my 
country.  If  the  towers  of  Carthage  and  the  sight  of  a 
Libyan  city  engross  you,  a  Phoenician  born,  why  should  you 
be  dissatisfied  that  we  Trojans  settle  in  the  land  of  Ausonia  ? 
Let  us  too  have  the  privilege  to  go  in  quest  of  foreign  realms. 
Whenever  the  night  overspreads  the  earth  with  humid  shades, 
as  often  as  the  fiery  stars  arise,  the  troubled  ghost  of  my 
father  Anchises  visits  me  in  my  dreams,  and  with  dreadful 
summons  urges  [my  departure]  :  my  son  Ascanius  [calls]  me 
[hence],  and  the  injury  done  to  one  so  dear,  whom  I  defraud 
of  the  Hesperian  crown,  and  his  destined  dominions.  Now27 
also  the  messenger  of  the  gods,  dispatched  from  Jove  himself, 
(I  call  them  both  to  witness !)  swift  gliding  through  the  air, 
bore  to  me  his  high  commands  :  myself  beheld  the  god  in  con- 
spicuous brightness  entering  your  walls,  and  with  these  ears 
I  received  his  voice.  Cease  to  torment  yourself  and  me  by 
your  complaints :  the  Italian  coasts  I  pursue,  not  out  of 
choice.118 

Thus  while  he  speaks,  she  views  him  all  along  from  the 
beginning  with  averted  looks,  rolling  her  eyes  hither  and 
thither,  and  with  silent  glances  surveys  his  whole  person,  then 
thus  inflamed  with  wrath  breaks  forth  :  Nor  goddess  gave 
thee  birth,  perfidious  one !  nor  is  Dardanus  the  founder  of 
thy  race,  but  frightful  Caucasus  on  flinty  clifis  brought  thee 
forth,  and  Hyrcanian  tigers  gave  thee  suck.  For  why  should 
'I  dissemble  ?  or  for  what  greater  injuries  can  I  be  reserved  ? 
Did  he  so  much  as  sigh  at  my  distress  ?  did  he  once  move  his 
eyes  ?  Did  he,  overcome,  shed  a  tear,  or  compassionate  me  in 
my  love  ?  Where  shall  I  begin  my  complaint  ?  Now  neither 
mighty  Juno  nor  the  Saturnian  sire,  considers  these  things 
with  impartial  eyes.  Finn  faith  nowhere  subsists.  An 
outcast  on  my  shores,  an  indigent  wretch,  I  received  him,  and 
fool  that  I  was,  settled  him  in  partnership  of  my  crown  ;  his 
wrecked  fleet  [I  renewed],  his  companions  from  death  I  saved. 
Ah  !  I  am  all  on  fire,  I  am  distracted  with  fury  !  "  Now"  the 
prophetic  voice  of  Apollo  ;  now  the  Lycian  lots  ;  and  now  the 

:T  This  sophistical  defense  of  ^Eneas  has  been  partly  copied  by  Silius, 
viii.  109  sqq.  B. 

™  On  this  abruptly  finished  passage,  seo  Weichart,  de  vers.  spur,  p- 
71.  B. 

29  Dido  ironically  repeats  his  words. 


B.  iv.  378—410.  ^NEID.  187 

messenger  of  the  gods,  dispatched  from  Jove  himself,  through 
the  air  conveys  tne  horrid  mandate."  A  worthy  employ- 
ment, forsooth,  for  the  powers  above,  a  weighty  concern  to 
disturb  them  in  their  peaceful  state  !  I  neither  detain  you, 
nor  argue  against  what  you  have  said.  Go,  speed  your  way 
for  Italy  with  the  winds,  pursue  this  kingdom  of  yours,  over 
tie  waves.  I  hope,  however  (if  the  just  gods  have  any  power), 
thou  mayest  suffer  punishment  amid  the  rocks,  and  often 
[vainly]  call  on  Dido's  name.  I,  though  absent,  will  pursue 
thee  with  black  flames :  and,  when  cold  death  shall  have 
separated  these  limbs  from  my  soul,  as  a  shade  will  I  haunt30 
thee  in  every  place  :  Wretch  !  thou  shalt  make  atonement :  I 
shall  hear  it ;  even  in  the  deep  shades  these  tidings  will  reach 
me.  With  these  words  she  breaks  off  in  the  middle  of  the 
conference,  and  sickening  shuns  the  light :  she  turns  about, 
and  flings  away  out  of  his  sight,  leaving  him  greatly  perplexed 
through  fear,  and  preparing  to  say  a  thousand  things.  Her 
maids  raise  her  up,  bear  her  fainting  limbs  into  her  marble  bed- 
chamber, and  gently  lay  her  on  a  couch. 

Meanwhile  pious  ^Eneas,  though  by  solacing  means  he 
desires  to  ease  her  grief,  and  by  words  to  divert  her  anguish, 
heaving  many  a  sigh,  and  staggered  in  his  mind  by  mighty 
love,  yet  gives  obedience  to  the  commands  of  the  gods,  and 
revisits  his  fleet.  Then,  indeed,  the  Trojans  intensely  ply  their 
work,  and  launch  the  ships  all  along  the  shore.  The  pitchy 
keel  floats ;  through  eager  haste  to  sail,  they  bring  from  the 
woods  ours  not  cleared  of  leaves,  and  uniashioned  timber. 
You  might  have  seen  them  removing,  and  pouring  from  all 
quarters  of  the  town,  as  when  ants,  mindful  of  winter,  plunder 
a  large  granary  of  corn  and  hoard  it  up  in  their  cell ;  the 
black  battalion  marches  over  the  plains,  and  along  the  narrow 
track  they  convey  their  booty  through  the  meadows ;  some, 
shoving  with  their  shoulders,  push  forward  the  cumbrous 
grain ;  some  rally  the  [straggling]  bands,  and  chastise  those 
that  lag  :  the  path  all  glows  with  the  work. 

Dido,  how  wast  thou  then  affected  with  so  sad  a  prospect  ? 
What  groans  didst  thou  utter,  when  from  thy  lofty  tower  thou 
beheldest  the  shore  in  its  wide  extent  glowing  [with  bustle], 

30  Ovid,  Ibis,  146.  "  Turn  quoque  factorum  veniam  memor  umbra 
tuorum,  Insequar  et  vultus  ossea  forma  tuos.  Quse  vis  Deorum  est 
manium."  B. 


188  -(ENEID.  B.  iv.  411— 442. 

and  didst  also  observe,  full  in  thy  view,  the  whole  watery 
plain  resounding  with  such  mingled  shouts?  Unrelenting 
love,  how  irresistible  is  thy  sway  over  the  mind  of  mortals ! 
She  is  constrained  once  more  to  have  recourse  to  tears,  once 
more  to  assail  him  by  prayers,  and  suppliant  to  subject  the 
powers  of  her  soul  to  love,  lest,  by  leaving  any  means  uuat- 
tempted,  she  should  throw  away  her  life  rashly,  and  without 
cause.  Anna,  thou  seest  over  all  the  shore  how  they  are 
hastening :  the  whole  bauds  are  drawn  together,  the  canvas 
now  invites  the  gales ;  and  the  joyful  mariners  have  crowned 
their  sterns  with  garlands.  O  sister,  since  I  was  able  to  fore- 
see this  so  sad  a  blow,  I  shall  be  able  to  bear  it.  Yet,  Anna, 
perform  this  one  request  for  your  wretched  sister :  for  that 
perfidious  man  made  you  the  sole  object  of  his  esteem,  even 
intrusted  you  with  the  secrets  of  his  soul,  you  alone  knew  the 
occasions  and  soft  approaches  to  his  heart.  Go,  sister,  and  in 
suppliant  terms  bespeak  the  haughty  foe :  I  never  conspired 
with  the  Greeks  at  Aulis31  to  extirpate  the  Trojan  race,  or 
sent  a  fleet  to  Troy ;  nor  did  I  disturb  the  ashes  and  manes 
of  his  father  Anchises.  Why  does  he  stop  his  unrelenting 
ears  to  my  words  ?  whither  does  he  fly  ?  Let  him  grant  but 
this  last  favor  to  his  unhappy  lover ;  to  defer  his  flight  till  it 
be  safe,  and  till  the  winds  blow  fair."  I  plead  no  more  for 
that  old-promised  wedlock,  which  he  has  betrayed ;  nor  that 
he  should  deprive  himself  of  fair  Latium,  and  relinquish  a 
kingdom.  I  ask  a  trifling  moment ;  a  respite  and  interval  from 
distracting  pain,  till,  subdued  by  fortune,  I  learn  to  sustain  my 
woes.  This  favor  I  implore  as  the  last,  (pity  thy  sister !)  which, 
when  he  has  granted,  I  shall  send  him  away  completely  happy 
in  my  death. 

To  this  effect  she  prayed ;  and  her  sister,  deeply  distressed, 
bears  once  and  again  this  mournful  message  to  JEiieas ;  but  by 
none  of  her  mournful  messages  is  he  moved,  nor  listens  with 
calm  regard  to  any  words.  The  Fates  stand  in  his  Avay  ;  and 
heaven  renders  his  ears  deaf  to  compassion.  And  as  the 
Alpine  north  winds  by  their  blasts,  now  on  this  side,  now  on 

Sl  Aulis,  a  seaport  town  of  Boetia,  in  Greece,  where  the  Grecian  forces 
assembled  in  the  expedition  against  Troy. 

13  Ventosque  ferentes,  i.  e.  Ventosque  secundos,  as  in  Seneca  de  B.  V. 
c.  21,  Navigantem  secundus  et  ferens  veutus  exhilarat.  So  Pliny  in  his 
panegyric,  Venti  ferentes  et  brevis  cursus  optentur. 


B.  IV.  443 — i73.  .<ENEID.  189 

that,  strive  with  joint  force  to  overturn  a  sturdy  ancient  oak : 
a  loud  howling  goes  forth,  and  the  leaves  strew  the  ground  in 
heaps,  while  the  trunk  is  shaken ;  the  tree  itself  cleaves  fast  to 
the  rocks ;  and  as  high  as  it  shoots  up  to  the  top  in  the  ethereal 
regions,  so  deep  it  descends  with  its  root  toward  Tartarus : 
just  so  the  hero  on  this  side  and  that  side  is  plied  with  impor- 
tunate remonstrances,  and  feels  deep  pangs  in  his  mighty  soul ; 
his  mind  remains  unmoved ;  unavailing  tears  are  shed. 

Then,  indeed,  unhappy  Dido,  struck  to  the  heart  by  her 
fate,  longs  for  death  ;  she  sickens  of  beholding  the  canopy  of 
heaven.  The  more  to  prompt  her  to  execute  her  purpose, 
and  to  part  with  the  light,  while  she  was  presenting  her 
offerings  upon  the  altar  that  smoked  with  incense,  she  beheld, 
horrid  to  relate !  the  sacred  liquors  grow  black,  and  the  out- 
poured wine  turn  into  inauspicious  blood.  This  vision  she 
revealed  to  none,  not  even  to  her  sister.  Besides,  there  was  in 
the  palace  a  marble  shrine  in  honor  of  her  former  husband, 
to  which  she  paid  extraordinary  veneration,  [having]  it  en- 
circled with  snowy  fillets  of  wool  and  festal  garlands.  Hence 
voices,  and  the  words  of  her  husband  calling  her,  seemed  to 
be  heard,33  when  dim  night  shrouded  the  earth ;  and  on  the 
house-tops  the  solitary  owl  often  complained  in  doleful  ditty, 
and  spun  out  his  long  notes  in  a  mournful  strain.  Besides, 
many  predictions  of  pious  prophets  terrify  her  with  dreadful 
forebodings.  ^Eneas  himself,  now  stern  and  cruel,  disturbs 
her  raving  in  her  sleep ;  and  still  she  seems  to  be  abandoned 
in  solitude,  still  to  be  going  a  long  tedious  journey,  with  no 
attendance,  and  to  be  in  quest  of  her  Tynans  in  some  desert 
country  :  as  frantic  Pentheus"  sees  troops  of  Furies,  two 
suns,  and  Thebes  appear  double;  or  like  Orestes,  Agamem- 
non's son,  with  distraction  hurried  on  the  stage,  when  he  flies 
from  his  mother  armed  with  firebrands*6  and  black  snakes 
and  the  avenged  Furies  are  planted  at  the  gate." 

33  Compare  Silius,  viii.  122  sqq.,  and  Grid,  Her.  viL  100  sqq.     Such 
prodigies  are  great  favorites  with  the  Greek  romancists.     Thus  in 
Heliodor.  iL   70,    e/c  fiv^uv  rov    aTTTjhaiov,    Quvf/f   rif   sfoof    I^KOVCTO, 
dtuyevef,  KaZovarjf.     And  Chariton,  i.  p.  12,  tycxpos  owe  iarlv,  U/.TM  $UVT) 

K.0.7.OVVTUV  fj.€  TUV  VKOxOoVlUV  TTpdf  ailTOVf.       B. 

34  Pentheus,  son  of  Echion  and  Agave,  was  king  of  Thebes  in  Bceotia. 
In  consequence  of  his  refusal  to  acknowledge  the  divinity  of  Bacchus, 
he  was  torn  to  pieces  by  the  Bacchanals. 

35  There  is  an  evident  reference  to  the  stage  costume  of  the  Furies.  B 
35  According  to  Servius,  Virgil  follows  a  tragedy  of  Pacuvius,  in  which 


190  -&ETEID.  B.  iv.  474—501. 

When,  therefore,  overpowered  with  grief,  she  had  taken 
the  Furies37  into  her  breast,  and  determined  to  die,  she  pon- 
ders the  time  and  manner  with  herself;  and  thus  accosting 
her  sister,  the  partner  of  her  grief,  covers  her  intention  in  her 
looks,  and  puts  on  a  serene  air  of  hope.  Rejoice,  O  sister, 
with  thy  sister !  I  have  found  an  expedient,  which  will  restore 
him  to  me,  or  set  my  love-sick  soul  at  liberty  from  him. 
Near  the  extremity  of  the  ocean  and  the  setting  sun,  the  utmost 
boundary  of  ^Ethiopia  lies,  where  mighty  Atlas  on  his  shoul- 
der whirls  about  the  globe,  spangled  with  refulgent  stars : 
hence  appeared  to  me  a  priestess  of  the  Massylian  nation,  the 
guardian  of  the  temple  of  the  Hesperides,88  who  supplied  the 
dragon  with  food,  and  watched  the  sacred  branches  on  the 
tree,  infusing  liquid  honey  and  the  sleepy  poppy.  She  un- 
dertakes, by  charms,  to  release  any  souls,  whom  she  will, 
[from  the  power  of  love,]  and  to  entail  on  others  irksome 
cares :  to  stop  the  course  of  rivers,  and  turn  the  stars  back- 
ward :  she  summons  up  the  ghosts  by  night.  You  shall  see 
the  earth  bellow  under  her  feet,  and  the  wild  ashes  descend 
from  the  mountains.  My  dear  sister,  I  call  the  gods,  and  you, 
and  that  dear  person  of  thine,  to  witness,  that  it  is  against  my 
will  I  set  about  these  magic  arts.  Do  you  in  secrecy  erect  a 
funeral  pile  in  the  inner  court,  under  the  open  air,  and  lay 
upon  it  his  arms,  which  he,  impiously  base,  left  fixed  in  my 
bed-chamber,  with  all  his  clothes,  and  the  nuptial  bed  in 
which  I  was  undone.  The  priestess  orders  and  directs  me  to 
destroy  every  monument  of  that  execrable  man.  Having  thus 
said,  she  ceases :  at  the  same  time,  paleness  overcasts  her 
whole  complexion.  Yet  Anna  imagines  not  that  her  sister 
aimed  at  death  under  pretext  of  these  unusual  rites ;  nor 
once  suspects  that  she  had  formed  such  a  desperate  purpose, 

Orestes  was  represented  taking  refuge  in  the  temple  of  Apollo,  while  the 
Furies  kept  watch  for  him  at  the  gate.  For  the  more  usual  stage  arrange- 
ment, see  my  notes  on  .ZEscb.  Lum.  p.  ISO,  note  4,  ed.  Bohn.  B. 

S7  The  Furies,  daughters  of  Acheron  and  Nox:  they  were  three  hi 
numbeJfTTsiphone,  Megara,  and  Alecto,  and  were  supposed  to  be  the 
ministers  of  the  vengeance  of  the  gods. 

38  Hesperides,  three  celebrated  nymphs,  daughters  of  Hesperus:  they 
presided  over  the  garden  which  contained  the  golden  apples  that  Juno 
gave  to  Jupiter  on  the  day  of  their  nuptials.  This  garden,  according  to 
the  ancients,  was  situated  near  Mount  Atlas,  in  Africa,  and  the  tree 
bearing  the  golden  apples  was  guarded  by  a  huge  dragou. 


B.  IT.  502—535.  yENEID.  191 

nor  dreads  any  thing  worse  than  had  happened  at  the  death  of 
Sichseus.  Therefore  she  makes  the  desired  preparations. 

But  the  queen,  as  soon  as  the  vast  pile  was  erected  under 
the  open  air  in  the  inner  court,  with  torches  and  faggots 
of  oak,  encircles  the  ground  with  garlands,  and  crowns  it  with 
funeral  boughs :  upon  the  bed  she  lays  his  clothes,  the  sword 
he  left,  and  his  image,  well  knowing  of  the  future.  Altars 
are  raised  around;  and  the  priestess,  her  hair  disheveled, 
with  thundering  voice,  invokes  three  hundred  gods,  and  Ere- 
bus, and  Chaos,  and  threefold  Hecate,39  virgin  Diana's  triple 
form.  She  sprinkled  also  water  counterfeiting  that  of  the 
lake  Avernus  :40  full-grown  herbs,  cut  by  moonlight  with 
brazen  sickles,  are  searched  out,  together  with  the  juice  of 
black  poison :  the  [mother's]  love,41  too,  torn  from  the  fore- 
head of  a  new-foaled  colt,  and  snatched  away  from  the  dam, 
is  sought  out.  The  queen  herself,  now  resolute  on  death, 
having  one  foot  bare,  her  robe  ungirt,  standing  by  the  altars, 
with  the  salt  cake  and  pious  hands,  makes  her  appeal  to  the 
gods,  and  to  the  stars  conscious  of  her  fate :  then,  if  any  deity, 
both  just  and  mindful,  regards  lovers  unequally  yoked,  him  she 
invokes. 

It  was  night,  and  weary  bodies  over  the  earth  were  enjoy- 
ing a  peaceful  repose  :  the  woods  and  raging  seas  were  still ; 
when  the  stars  roll  in  the  middle  of  their  gliding  course ; 
when  every  field  is  hushed :  the  beasts,  and  speckled  birds, 
both  those  that  far  and  wide  haunt  the  liquid  lakes,  and  those 
that  possess  the  fields  with  rough  bushes  overgrown,  all 
stretched  under  the  silent  night,  allayed  their  cares  with  sleep, 
and  every  heart  forgot  its  toil.  But  not  so  the  soul-distressed 
queen ;  not  one  moment  is  she  lulled  to  rest,  nor  enjoys  the 
night  with  eyes  or  mind.  Her  cares  redouble  ;  and  love,  again 
arising,  rages  afresh,  and  fluctuates  with  a  high  tide  of  pas- 
sions. Thus  then  she  persists,  and  revolves  these  secret  re- 
flections in  her  breast :  Lo !  what  shall  I  do  ?  Baffled  as  I  am, 
shall  I,  in  my  turn,  apply  to  my  former  suitors?  shall  I 
humbly  sue  for  a  match  with  one  of  the  Numidians,  whom  I 

83  Hecate,  the  daughter  of  Perses  and  Asteria,  or  rather  of  Jupiter 
and  Latona :  she  was  called  Luna  in  heaven,  Diana  on  earth,  and  He- 
cate, or  Proserpine,  in  hell. 

10  "Avernales  aquas."     Hor.  Ep.  v.  15.     C£  Macrob.  iii.  1.     B. 

41  On  the  "hippomanes,"  here  meant,  see  Anthon.     B. 


192  ^JNEID.  B.  IV.  636—573. 

have  so  often  disdained  as  lords  ?  Shall  I  then  attend  the  fleet 
of  Hium,  and  submit  to  the  basest  commands  of  the  Trojans  ? 
and  that,  because  I  am  well  rewarded  for  having  lent  them  my 
assistance,  and  in  their  grateful  hearts  a  just  sense  of  my 
former  kindness  remains  ?  But,  suppose  I  had  the  will,  who 
will  put  it  in  my  power,  or  receive  into  their  proud  ships  me, 
the  object  of  their  hate  ?  Ah !  lost  one,  art  thou  unacquainted 
with,  art  thou  still  to  learn,  the  perfidiousness  of  Laomedoii's 
race  ?  What  then  ?  Shall  I  steal  away  by  myself  to  accom- 
pany the  triumphant  crew  2  or,  attended  by  my  Tyrians,  and 
all  my  people  in  a  body,  shall  I  pursue  them,  and  again  lead 
out  to  sea,  and  order  those  to  spread  their  sails  to  the  winds, 
whom,  with  much  ado,  I  forced  from  Tyre  1  Nay,  rather  die, 
as  you  deserve,  and  end  your  woes  with  the  sword.  You, 
sister,  subdued  by  my  tears,  you  first  oppressed  my  distracted 
mind  with  these  woes,  and  exposed  me  to  the  enemy.  Might 
I  not  have  led  an  innocent  unwedded  life,  like  a  savage  of  the 
field,  and  have  avoided  such  cares  ?  I  have  violated  the  faith  I 
plighted  to  the  manes  of  Sichaeus. 

Such  heavy  complaints  she  poured  forth  from  her  heart. 
^Eneas,  determined  to  depart,  was  enjoying  sleep  in  the  lofty 
stern,  all  things  being  now  in  readiness.  The  form  of  the  god, 
returning  with  the  same  aspect,  appeared  to  him  in  his  sleep, 
thus  again  seemed  to  admonish  him;  in  every  thing  re- 
sembling Mercury,  in  voice,  complexion,  golden  locks,  and 
comely  youthful  limbs:  "Goddess-born,  can  you  indulge  in 
sleep  at  this  conjuncture  ?  Infatuated,  not  to  see  what  dangers 
in  a  moment  may  beset  you,  nor  listen  to  the  breathing  of  the 
friendly  zephyrs!  She,  bent  on  death,  is  revolving  guileful 
purposes  and  horrid  wickedness  in  her  breast,  and  fluctuates 
with  a  tide  of  angry  passions.  Will  you  not  fly  hence  with 
precipitation,  while  thus  to  fly  is  in  your  power?  Forthwith 
you  shall  behold  the  sea  in  commotion  with  her  oars,  and 
torches  fiercely  blaze;  forthwith  the  shore  lighted  up  with 
flames,  if  the  morning  reach  you  lingering  on  these  coasts. 
Come  then,  quick,  break  off  delay :  woman  is  a  fickle  and 
ever  changeable  creature."  This  said,  he  mingled  with  the 
sable  night. 

Then,  indeed,  ./Eneas,  in  consternation  at  this  sudden  ap- 
parition, snatches  his  frame  from  the  couch,  and  rouses  his 
companions:  Awake,  my  mates,  in  haste,  and  plant  your- 


B.  iv.  574 — 609.  ^BNEID.  193 

selves  on  the  benches ;  instantly  unfurl  the  sails.  A  god,  dis- 
patched from  the  high  heavens,  once  more  prompts  me  to 
hasten  my  departure,  and  cut  the  twisted  cables.  We  follow 
thee,  O  holy  power,  whoever  thou  art,  and  once  more  with  joy 
obey  thy  commands.  Ah !  be  present,  lend  us  thy  propitious 
aid,  and  light  up  friendly  stars  in  the  heavens.  He  said,  and 
snatches  his  keen  flashing  sword  from  the  sheath,  and  cuts  the 
halsers  with  the  drawn  steel.  The  same  eagerness  at  once 
seizes  them  all :  they  hale,  they  hurry  away :  they  have  quitted 
the  shore;  the  sea  lies  hidden  under  the  fleet;  they  with 
exerted  vigor  upturn  the  foaming  billows,  and  sweep  the  azure 
deep. 

And  now  Aurora,  leaving  Tithonus'  saffron  bed,  first  sowed 
the  earth  with  new-born  light :  ""soon  as  the  queen  from  her 
watch-towers  marked  the  dawn  whitening,  and  the  fleet  set- 
ting forward  with  balanced  sails,  and  perceived  the  shore  and 
vacant  port  without  a  rower ;  thrice  and  four  times  smiting 
her  fair  bosom,  and  tearing  her  golden  locks :  O  Jupiter  ! 
shall  he  go  ?  she  says  :  and  shall  this  stranger  mock  my  king- 
dom ?  Will  they  not  make  ready  arms,  and  pursue  from  all 
the  city  ?  and  will  not  others  tear  my  ships  from  the  docks  ? 
Run  quick,  fetch  flames,  unfurl  the  sails,  ply  the  oars.  What 
am  I  saying  ?  or  where  am  I  ?  what  madness  turns  my  brain  ? 
Unhappy  Dido !  art  thou  then  at  length  stung  with  the  sense 
of  his  foul  impious  deeds  1"  Then  it  had  become  thee  so  to 
act,  when  thou  impartedst  [to  him]  thy  scepter.  Is  this  the 
honor,  the  faith  !  this  [the  man]  who,  they  say,  carries  with 
him  his  country's  gods !  who  bore  on  his  shoulders  his  father 
spent  with  age  !  Might  I  not  have  torn  in  pieces  his  mangled 
body,  and  strewn  it  on  the  waves  ?  might  I  not  with  the  sword 
have  destroyed  his  friends,  and  Ascanius  himself,  and  served 
him  up  for  a  banquet  at  his  father's  table  ?  But  the  fortune 
of  the  fight  was  doubtful.  Grant  it  had  been  so :  thus  reso- 
lute on  death,  whom  had  I  to  fear  ?  I  might  have  hurled  fire- 
brands into  his  camp,  filled  the  hatches  with  flames,  extirpated  * 
the  son,  the  sire,  with  the  whole  race,  and  flung  myself  upon 
the  pile.  Thou  Sun,  who  with  thy  flaming  beams  surveyest 
all  works  on  earth,  and  thou,  Juno,  the  author"  and  witness 
of  these  my  cares ;  Hecate,  with  howlings  invoked  through 

"   "facta,"  not  "fata."     B. 

43  "  interpres,"  i.  e.  "  media  et  conciliatrix."    SEBVIUS.     B. 

9 


194  jENEUX  B.  IV.  610—632. 

the  cities  in  the  crossways  by  night ;  and  ye  avenging  Furies, 
and  gods  of  dying  Elisa !  receive  these  my  words ;  in  justice 
to  my  \vrongs,  turn  to  me  your  divine  regard,  and  hearken  to 
my  prayers.  If  it  must  be,  and  Jove's  decrees  so  require,  if 
this  be  his  determination,  that  the  execrable  traitor  reach  the 
port,  and  get  safe  to  land  :  yet  harassed,  at  least,  by  war,  and 
the  hostilities  of  an  audacious  people,  expelled  from  his  own 
territories,  torn  from  the  embraces  of  lulus,  may  lie  sue  to 
others  for  relief,  and  see  the  ignominious  deaths  of  his  friends ; 
and,  after  he  shall  have  submitted  to  the  terms  of  a  disadvan- 
tageous peace,  let  him  neither  enjoy  his  crown,  nor  the  wished- 
for  light,  but  die  before  his  time,  and  [lie]  unburied  in  the 
midst  of  the  sandy  shore.  These  are  my  prayers ;"  these  the 
last  words  I  pour  forth  with  my  blood.  You,  too,  0  Tynans, 
with  iireconcilable  enmity,  pursue  his  offspring  and  all  his 
future  race,  and  present  these  offerings  to  my  shade :  let  no 
amity  or  leagues  between  the  two  nations  subsist.  Arise  some 
avenger45  from  my  ashes,  who  may  persecute  those  Trojan 
fugitives  with  fire  and  sword,  now,  hereafter,  at  whatever  time 
power  shall  be  given.  Let  them  take  this  curse  from  me,48 
that  their  shores,  their  waves,  their  arms,  and  ours,  may  still  be 
opposed  to  one  another ;  and  may  their  posterity  too  [and  ours] 
be  still  in  war  engaged. 

She  said,  and  every  way  turned  her  shifting  soul,  seeking, 
as  soon  as  possible,  to  bereave  herself  of  the  hated  light. 
Then  briefly  thus  she  bespoke  Barce,  the  nurse  of  Sichaeus 

44  Respecting  their  mythical  fulfillment,  see  Servius,  and  the  satisfac- 
tory notes  of  Anthon.     B. 

45  Such  as  Hannibal  proved.    B. 

46  It  was  an  opinion  very  prevailing  among  the  ancients,  that  the  pray- 
ers of  the  dying  were  generally  heard,  and  that  their  last  words  were 
prophetic.     Thus  Yirgil  makes  Dido  imprecate  upon  ^Eneas  a  series  of 
misfortunes,  which  actually  had  their  accomplishment  in  bis  own  person, 
or  in  his  posterity.     1.  He  was  harassed  with  war  in  Italy  by  Turnus. 
2.  He  was  necessitated  to  abandon  his  son,  and  go  into  Etruria  to  beg 
for  assistance,  .^En.  viii.  80.     3.  He  saw  his  friends  cruelly  slain  in  battle, 
especially  Pallas,  .^En.  x.  489.    4.  He  died  before  his  time,  being  slain 
by  Mezentius,  according  to  the  most  authentic  tradition,  and  was  left 
unburied  on  the  banks  of  the  Numicus,  by  whose  waters  his  body  was  at 
length  carried  off,  and  never  more  appeared.     5.  The  Romans  and  Car- 
thaginians were  irreconcilable  enemies  to  one  another,  and  no  leagues, 
no  ties  of  religion,  could  ever  bind  the  two  nations  to  peace.     6.  Han- 
nibal was  Dido's  avenger,  who  arose  afterward  to  be  the  scourge  of  the 
Romans,  and  carried  fire  and  sword  into  Italy. 


B.  IV.  633—666.  ^NEID.  195 

(for  the  dark  grave  lodged  her  own  in  her  native  country)  : 
Dear  nurse,  call  hither  to  me  my  sister  Anna ;  bid  her  make 
haste  to  sprinkle  her  body  with  running  water,  and  bring 
with  her  the  victims  and  the  things  for  expiation  of  which 
I  told  her :  thus  let  her  come ;  and  you  yourself  cover  your 
temples  with  a  holy  fillet.  I  have  a  mind  to  finish  the  sacrifice 
begun  with  proper  rites,  which  I  have  prepared  for  Jupiter 
Stygius,47  to  put  a  period  to  my  miseries,  and  to  commit  to  the 
flames  the  pile  of  the  Trojan.  She  said  :*the  other  quickened 
her  pace  with  an  old  woman's  officiousness.48 

But  Dido,  trembling  with  agitation,  and  maddened  on  ac- 
count of  her  horrid  purpose,  rolling  her  blood-red  eyeballs, 
her  throbbing  cheeks  suffused  with  spots,  and  all  pale  with 
approaching  death,  burst  into  the  gate  of  the  inner  palace, 
and  frantic  mounts  the  lofty  pile,  and  unsheaths  the  Trojan 
sword ;  a  present  not  provided  for  such  purposes  as  these.48 
Here,  after  she  had  viewed  the  Trojan  vestments  and  the  con- 
scious bed,  having  wept  and  mused  awhile,  she  threw  herself 
on  the  bed,  and  spoke  her  last  words  :  Ye  dear  remains,  while 
god  and  the  fates  permitted,  receive  this  soul,  and  free  me 
from  these  cares.  I  have  lived,  and  finished  the  race  which 
fortune  gave  me.  And  now  my  ghost  shall  descend  illustrious 
to  the  shades  below :  I  have  raised  a  glorious  city,  have  seen 
the  walls  of  my  own  building,  have  avenged  my  husband, 
punished  an  unnatural  brother ;  happy,  ah !  too  happy,  had 
but  the  Trojan  ships  never  touched  my  shores !  She  said, 
and  pressing  her  lips  to  the  bed,  Shall  I  die  unrevenged  ? 
But  let  me  die,50  she  says  :  thus,  thus  with  pleasure  I  descend 
to  the  shades  below.  Let  the  cruel  Trojan  from  the  sea  feed 
his  eyes  with  these  flames,  and  bear  with  him  the  omens  of 
my  death.  She  said;  and  while  she  spoke,  her  attendants 
perceive  her  fallen  on  the  sword,  and  the  weapon  stained  with 
foaming  gore,  and  her  hands  besmeared.  The  outcry  reaches 
the  lofty  palace  ;  fame  wildly  flies  through  the  alarmed  city  ; 

47  *.  e.  Pluto.     Cf.  Macrob.  Sat.  iii.  3.    &sch.  Suppl.  164,  ZTJVO.  ruv 

KEK/J.TJKOTUV.       B. 

48  With  Anthon,  I  prefer  "anili"  to  "anilem."     B. 

49  i.  e.  "quaesitum  in  pignus  amoris,"  as  Silius,  viii.  50,  says,  with  an 
evident  reference  to  this  passage.     Cf.  Ovid  Her.  vii.  195.     B. 

50  Happily  imitated  by  Propert.  ii.  7,  79  : 

"Sic  igitur  prima  moriere  aetate,  Properti? 
Sed  morere,  interitu  gaudeat  ilia  tuo."    B. 


196  -<ENEID.  B.  IV.  667 — 694. 

the  houses  ring  with  lamentations,  groans,  and  female  yells," 
and  the  sky  resounds  with  loud  shrieks  :  just  as  if  all  Carthage, 
or  ancient  Tyre,  in  the  hands  of  the  invading  enemy,  were  fall- 
ing to  the  ground,  and  the  furious  flames  were  rolling  over  the 
tops  of  houses  and  temples. 

Her  sister  was  breathless  at  the  news,  and  with  trembling 
haste,  all  aghast,  tearing  her  face  with  her  nails,  and  [beating] 
her  bosom  with  her  hands,  rushes  through  the  midst  of  the 
crowd,  and  calls  her  dying  [sister]  by  name  :  O  sister,  was 
this  your  meaning  ?  did  you  practice  thus  to  deceive  me  ?  was 
this  what  I  had  'o  expect  from  that  pile,  those  fires  and  altars  ? 
Abandoned  !  where  shall  I  begin  to  complain  ?  Did  you  dis- 
dain a  sister  for  your  companion  in  death  ?  Had  you  invited 
me  to  the  same  fate,  one  distress  and  one  hour  had  snatched 
us  both  away  by  the  sword.  Did  I  raise  [that  pile]  .with 
these  very  hands,  and  with  my  voice  invoke  our  country's 
gods,  that  I  should  cruelly  absent  myself  from  you,  thus 
stretched  upon  it.  Ah  sister !  you  have  involved  yourself 
and  me,  your  people,  your  Tyrian  nobles,  and  your  city,  in 
one  common  ruin.  Let  me  bathe  her  wounds  with  water," 
and  catch  with  my  lips,  if  there  be  yet  any  straggling  remains 
of  breath."  This  said,  she  mounted  the  high  steps,  and  in 
her  bosom  embracing,  cherished  her  expiring  sister  with 
sighs,  and  dried  up  the  black  blood  with  her  robe.  She 
essaying  to  lift  her  heavy  eyes,  again  sinks  down.  The  wound 
deep  fixed  in  her  breast,  emits  a  bubbling  noise.  Thrice 
leaning  on  her  elbow,  she  made  an  effort  to  raise  herself  up  ; 
thrice  she  fell  back  on  the  bed,  and  with  swimming  eyes 
sought  the  light  of  heaven,  and  having  found  jt,  heaved  a 
groan. 

Then  all-powerful  Juno,  in  pity  to  her  lingering  pain  and 
uneasy  death,  sent  down  Iris"  from  heaven,  to  release  the 

51  Synes.  Ep.  p.  164,  C.  dv6puv  ot/zoy^,  jwaiKuv  61.o3.vyij.     B. 

52  I  read  "date,  [i.e.  "aquam,"]  vulnera."    See  Anthon,  who  renders, 
"  give  me  it,  I  will  wash."    B. 

53  This  was  the  ancient  custom.     Cf.  Bion,  i.  47,  uxPlC  "^  fax^C  ^f 
ifibv  crofia  Keif  ffibv  rrxap  Trvev/na  rebv  fiEvay.    B. 

54  Iris,  daughter  of  Thaumus  and  Electra,  was  one  of  the  Oceanides, 
and  messenger  of  the  gods,  more  particularly  of  Juno.     Her  office  was 
to  cut  the  thread  which  seemed  to  detain  the  soul  in  the  body  of  those 
that  were  expiring.    She  is  represented  with  all  the  variegated  and  beau- 
tiful colors  of  the  rainbow. 


B.  IV.  695—705.     v.  1—19.       ^NEID.  197 

struggling  soul  and  the  tie  that  bound  it  to  the  body :  for, 
since  she  neither  fell  by  fate,  nor  by  a  deserved  death,  but  un- 
happily before  her  time,  and  maddened  with  sudden  rage, 
Proserpina  had  not  yet  cropped  the  yellow  hair  from  the  crown 
of  her  head,  and  condemned  her  to  Stygian  Pluto.  There- 
fore dewy  Iris,  drawing  a  thousand  various  colors  from  the  op- 
posite sun,  shoots  downward  through  the  sky  on  saffron  wings, 
and  alighted  on  her  head  :  I,  by  command,  bear  away  this  lock 
sacred  to  Pluto,  and  disengage  you  from  that  body.  She  said, 
and  cut  the  lock  with  her  right  hand  :  at  once  all  the  vital  heat 
was  extinguished,  and  life  vanished  into  air. 

BOOK  V. 


Sook.JSneas  sails  from  Carthage  for  Italy,  bat  is  forced  by  a 
nsit  Drepanum  in  Sicily,  where  he  celebrates  the  anniversary 


In  the  Fifth  Book, 
storm  to  revisit  J 

of  his  father's  death  by  various  games  and  feats  at  arms.  Here  the  Tro- 
jan women  set  fire  to  the  fleet,  which  is  saved  by  the  interposition  of 
Jupiter,  with  the  loss  of  four  ships.  After  this  event,  JSneas  pursues 
his  voyage  to  Italy. 

MEANWHILE,  ./Eneas,  in  direct  course,  was  now  fairly  on  his 
route  with  the  fleet,1  and  was  cutting  the  black  billows  before 
the  wind,  looking  back  to  the  walls  which  now  glare  with  the 
flames  of  unfortunate  Elisa.  What  cause  may  have  kindled 
such  a  blaze  is  unknown ;  but  the  thought  of  those  cruel 
agonies  that  arise  from  violent  love  when  injured,  and  the 
knowledge  of  what  frantic  women  can  do,  led  the  minds  of  the 
Trojans  through  dismal  forebodings. 

As  soon  as  their  ships  held  the  main,  and  no  more  land 
appears,  sky  all  around,  and  ocean  all  around ;  a  dark  lead- 
colored  watery  cloud  stood  over  his  head,  bringing  on  night, 
and  storm  ;  and  the  waves  became  horrid  in  the  gloom.  The 
pilot  Palinurus  himself  from  the  lofty  stern  [exclaims]  :  Ah  ! 
why  have  such  threatening  clouds  begirt  the  sky  ?  or  what,  O 
father  Neptune,  hast  thou  in  view  ?  Thus  having  spoken,  he 
next  commands  to  furl  the  sails,  and  ply  the  sturdy  oar ;  the 
bellying  canvas  he  turns  askance  to  the  wind,  and  thus 
speaks  :  Magnanimous  ^Eneas,  should  Jupiter  on  his  authority 
assure  me,  I  could  not  hope  to  reach  Italy  in  this  weather. 
The  winds  changed  roar  across  our  path,  and  arise  thick  from 

1  See  Anthon,  whom  I  have  closely  followed.     B. 


198  JENEID.  B.  V.  20—51. 

the  darkening  west,  and  the  air  is  condensed  into  cloud.  We 
are  neither  able  to  make  head  against  [the  storm],  nor  even 
to  withstand  it:  since  fortune  overpowers  us,  let  us  follow 
her,  and  turn  our  course  where  she  invites  us :  the  trusty 
shores  of  your  brother  Eryx,  and  the  Sicilian  ports,  I  deem 
not  far  off,  if  I  but  rightly  remembering  review  the  stars  I 
observed  before.  Then  the  pious  ^Eneas  [said],  I  indeed 
have  observed  long  ago  that  the  winds  urge  us  to  this,  and 
that  your  contrary  efforts  are  in  vain.  Shift  your  course  by 
the  sails.  Can  any  land  be  more  welcome  to  me,  or  where  I 
would  sooner  choose  to  put  in  my  weather-beaten  ships,  than 
that  which  preserves  for  me  Trojan  Acestes,  and  in  its  womb 
contains  the  bones  of  my  father  Anchises?  This  said,  they 
make  toward  the  port,  and  the  prosperous  zephyrs  stretch  the 
sails :  the  fleet  swiftly  rides  on  the  flood ;  and  at  length  the 
joyous  crew  are  wafted  to  the  well-known  strand.  But 
Acestes,  from  a  mountains  lofty  summit,  struck  with  the  dis- 
tant prospect  of  their  arrival,  and  at  the  friendly  ships,  comes 
up  to  them,  all  rough  with  javelins,4  and  the  hide  of  an 
African  bear :  whom,  begotten  by  the  river  Crinisius,3  a  Tro- 
jan mother  bore.  He,  not  unmindful  of  his  origin,  congratu- 
lates them  on  their  safe  arrival,  and  cheerfully  entertains  them 
with  rude  magnificence,  and  refreshes  them  fatigued  with 
friendly  cheer. 

When  with  the  early  dawn  the  ensuing  bright  day  had 
chased  away  the  stars,  ^Eneas  summons  to  council  his  follow- 
ers from  all  the  shore,  and  from  the  summit  of  a  rising  ground 
addresses  them :  Illustrious  Trojans,  whose  descent  is  from 
the  exalted  blood  of  the  gods,  the  annual  circle  is  completed, 
by  the  fulfillment  of  months,  since  we  lodged  in  the  earth  the 
relics  .and  bones  of  my  godlike  sire,  and  consecrated  to  him 
the  altars  of  mourning.  And  now  the  day,  if  I  mistake  not, 
is  at  hand,  which  I  shall  always  account  a  day  of  sorrow,  al- 
ways a  day  to  be  honored :  such,  ye  gods,  has  been  your 
pleasure.  Were  I  to  pass  this  day  in  exile  among  the  Syrtes 

9  It  is  strange  that  Heyne  should  have  found  any  difficulty  in  this 
phrase.  The  preposition  is  merely  redundant.  Cf.  Val.  Flacc.  i.  641, 
"  subitus  in  hasta."  Lucan,  i.  423,  "  leves  in  armis."  See  "\Yagner,  and 
TVeichart  on  Val.  Flacc.  viiL  136. 

*  Crinisius,  a  river  on  the  western  side  of  the  island  of  Sicily,  near 
the  city  Segesta. 


B.  Y.  52—85.  ^NEJD.  199 

of  Getulia,  or  overtaken  [by  it]  on  the  Grecian  Sea,  or  in  the 
city  of  Mycene,  yet  would  I  regularly  perform  my  annual  vows, 
and  the  solemn  funeral  processions,  and  heap  the  altars  with 
their  proper  offerings.  Now,  without  premeditated  design, 
though  not,  I  judge,  without  the  will  or  the  influence  of  the 
gods,  we  are  come  to  the  ashes  and  bones  of  my  own  father, 
and  are  wafted  to  the  friendly  port  which  we  are  now  entering. 
Come  then,  and  let  us  all  celebrate  the  joyous  rites.  Let  us 
pray  for  [prosperous]  winds,  and  that,  when  our  city  is  built, 
he  will  permit  me  to  offer  to  him  these  rites  annually  in  tem- 
ples consecrated  to  his  honor.  Acestes,  a  son  of  Troy,  gives 
you  two  oxen  for  each  ship  :  invite  to  the  feast  your  household 
and  country  gods,  and  those  whom  our  host  Acestes  worships. 
Further,  if  the  ninth  morning  shall  bring  forth  the  day  fair 
and  serene  to  mortals,  and  brighten  up  the  world  with  its 
beams,  I  will  propose  to  the  Trojans  the  first  trial  of  skill  to 
be  with  the  swiftest  of  their  ships.  And  whoever  excels  in 
running,  in  strength  who  boldly  dares,  or  moves  superior  in 
the  javelin,*  and  the  light  arrows,  or  who  has  courage  to  en- 
counter with  the  bloody  cestus  ;  let  all  such  be  ready  at  hand, 
and  expect  prizes  of  victory  suitable  to  their  merit.  Do  ye  all 
keep  religious  guard  over  your  lips,  and  encircle  your  temples 
with  boughs. 

This  said,  he  crowns  his  temples  with  his  mother's  myrtle. 
The  same  does  Elymus  :5  the  same  Acestes  ripened  in  years ; 
the  same  the  boy  Ascanius,  whose  example  the  other  youths 
follow.  He  went  from  the  assembly  to  the  tomb  with  many 
thousands,  in  the  center  of  a  numerous  retinue  attending. 
Here  in  due  form,  by  way  of  libation,  he  pours  on  the  ground 
{o  Bacchus  two  bowls  of  wine,  two  of  new  milk,  two  of  sacred 
blood  ;  then  scatters  blooming  flowers,  and  thus  speaks  :  Hail, 
holy  sire  !  once  more  hail,  ye  ashes  revisited  in  vain !  ye  ghosts 
and  shades  of  my  father  !  Heaven  would  not  allow  us  to  go 
together  in  quest  of  the  bounds  of  Italy,  and  of  the  lands  allotted 
to  me  by  fate,  or  the  Ausonian  Tiber,  whatever  river  that  is. 
He  said ;  when  from  the  bottom  of  the  shrine  a  huge  slippery 
snake  trailed  along,  seven  circling  spires,  seven  folds,  gently 

4  "Wyttenbach  on  Julian,  p.  161,  condemns  this  as  corrupt.  I  do  not 
see  any  substantial  grounds  of  objection.  B. 

6  Elymus,  a  youth  at  the  court  of  Acestes,  who  engaged  in  the  foot- 
races at  the  tomb  of  Anchises. 


200  ^ENEID.  B.  V.  86—120. 

twining  round  the  tomb,  and  gliding  over  the  altars  ;  whose 
back  azure  streaks,  and  whose  scales  drops  of  burnished  gold 
brightened  up ;  as  the  bow  in  the  clouds  draws  a  thousand 
various  colors  from  the  opposite  sun.  ./Eneas  stood  amazed 
at  the  sight.  At  length  the  reptile,  creeping  with  his  long 
train  between  the  bowls  and  smooth-polished  goblets,  gently 
tasted  the  banquet,  and  harmless  retired  again  into  the  bottom 
of  the  tomb,  and  left  the  altars  on  which  he  had  fed.  JEueas 
with  the  more  zeal  pursues  the  sacrifice  begun  in  honor  of  his 
father,  in  doubt  whether  to  think  it  the  genius  of  the  place,  or 
the  attendant  of  his  parent.  He  sacrificed  five  ewes,  two  years 
old,  according  to  custom  ;  as.  many  sows,  as  many  bullocks 
with  sable  backs :  and  he  poured  out  wine  from  the  goblets, 
and  invoked  the  soul  of  the  great  Anchises,  and  his  ghost  from 
Acheron  released.  In  like  manner  his  companions  offer  gifts 
with  joy,  each  according  to  his  ability ;  they  load  the  altars, 
and  sacrifice  bullocks.  Others  place  the  brazen  caldrons  in  or- 
der, and  stretched  along  the  grass,  apply  burning  co^ls  under 
the  spits,  and  roast  the  flesh.6 

/  Now  the  wished-for  day  approached,  and  the  steeds  of  the 
sun  ushering  in  the  ninth  morning  with  a  serene  sir}7 ;  fame, 
and  the  renov/a  of  illustrious  Acestes,  had  drawn  togciher  the 
neighborhood.  They  filled  the  shore  with  joyous  crowd, 
some  to  see  the  Trojans,  some  too  prepared  to  try  their  skill. 
The  prizes  first  are  set  before  their  eyes  in  the  midst  of  the 
circus ;  sacred  tripods,  green  garlands,  and  palms,  the  reward 
of  the  conquerors ;  arms,  and  vestments  of  purple  dye,  two 
talents,  one  of  gold  and  one  silver :  and  the  trumpet  from 
the  midst  of  the  rising  ground  gives  the  signal  that  the  games 
are  begun 

Four  ships  selected  from  the  whole  fleet,  equally  matched 
with  ponderous  oars,  first  enter  the  lists.  Mnestheus  manages 
the  swift-sailing  Pristis,  with  stout  rowers,  [destined]  soon 
[to  be]  the  Italian  Mnestheus,  from  which  name  the  family 
c  f  Meinmius  is  derived  ;  Gyas,7  the  huge  Chimera  of  stupend- 
ous bulk,  a  work  like  a  city,  which  with  a  triple  tier  the  Tro- 
jan youth  impel ;  the  oars  rise  together  in  a  triple  row.  Ser- 

6  "Viscera,"  i.  e.  all  that  is  contained  in  the  skin  of  the  animal.     See 
Anthon,  on  ^En.  i.  211.     So  "  visceratio"  is  "a  distribution  of  meat."    B. 

7  Gyas,  one  of  the  companions  of  ^Eneas,  who  distinguished  himself  at 
the  naval  games  exhibited  by  JEneas  in  honor  of  his  father  Anchises. 
Gyaa  commanded  the  ship  Chimera,  of  which  Mencetes  was  the  pilot. 


B.  v.  121—154.  ^ENEID.  201 

gestus,  from  whom  the  Sergian  family  has  its  name,  rides  in 
the  bulky  Centaur ;  and  Cloanthus  in  the  sea-green  Scylla, 
from  whom,  O  Roman  Cluentius,  is  thy  descent.  Far  in  the 
sea  there  lies  a  rock  opposite  to  the  foaming  shore,  which 
sometimes  overwhelmed  is  buffeted  by  the  swelling  surges,8 
when  the  wintery  north-west  winds  overcloud  the  stars :  in  a 
calm  it  lies  hushed,  and  rises  above  the  still  waves  as  a  plain, 
and  a  delightful  station  for  the  cormorants  basking  in  the  sun. 
Here  father  ./Eneas  erected  a  verdant  goal  of  branching  oak 
for  a  signal  to  the  mariners  ;  whence  they  might  know  to  turn 
back,  and  whence  to  wind  about  the  long  circuits.  Then  they 
choose  their  places  by  lot ;  and  on  the  poops  the  leaders, 
adorned  with  gold  and  purple,  shine  from  afar  with  distin- 
guished luster.  The  rest  of  the  youth  are  crowned  with  pop- 
lar wreaths,  and  glitter,  having  their  naked  shoulders  be- 
smeared with  oil.  They  sit  down  side  by  side  on  the  benches, 
and  their  arms  are  stretched  to  the  oars  :  with  eager  attention 
they  wait  the  signal,  and  their  throbbing  hearts  beat  heavily 
with  the  impulse  of  fear,  and  the  generous  thirst  of  praise. 
Then,  as  soon  as  the  loud  trumpet  gave  the  signal,  all  (there 
is  no  delay)  started  from  their  barrier :  the  seamen's  clamor 
strikes  the  skies;  and  the  seas,  upturned  by  their  in-bent 
arms,  foam.  At  once  they  plow  the  watery  furrows ;  and 
the  whole  deep  opens,  convulsed  with  oars  and  trident  beaks. 
Not  with  such  violent  speed  the  coursers  in  the  two-yoked 
chariot-race  spring  to  the  field,  and  start  with  full  career  from 
the  goal ;  nor  with  such  ardor  do  the  charioteers  shake  the 
waving9  reins  over  the  flying  steeds,  and,  bending  forward, 
hang  to  [give]  the  lash.10  Then,  with  the  applause  and  up- 
roar of  the  seamen,  and  the  eager  acclamations  of  the  favor- 
ing crowd,  every  grove  resounds  :  the  bounded  shores  roll  the 
voices  on ;  the  lashed  hills  re-echo  the  sound.  Amid  the 
bustle  and  uproar,  Gyas  flies  out  before  the  rest,  and  scuds 
away  the  foremost  on  the  waves :  whom  next  Cloanthus  fol- 
lows, a  more  skillful  rower,  but  the  vessel,  sluggish  through  its 
bulk,  retards  him.  After  these,  at  equal  distance,  the  Pristis 

8  The  reading  quoted  by  Agrsetius  de  Serm.  Lat.  p.  1346,   "tumidis 
quod  fluctibus  olim  Tunditur,"  is  far  more  harmonious  than  the  usual  ar- 
rangement.   B. 

9  Of.  Tryphiod.  67,  emKV/xaivovaa  fierr/opQ',  ai<%KVi  Kvpry.     B. 

10  For  this  construction,  cf.  Sil.  viii.  283,  "  trepida  pendens  in  verbera 
planta "     B. 

9* 


202  jENEID.  B.  v.  155—190. 

Vx 

and  Centaur  strive  to  gain  the  foremost  place.  And  now  the 
Pristis  has  the  advantage,  now  the  huge  Centaur  gets  before 
her  vanquished  [antagonist]  ;  anon  both  advance  together  with 
united  fronts,  and  with  their  long  keels  plow  the  briny 
waves.  And  now  they  were  approaching  the  rock,  and  had 
reached  the  goal,  when  Gyas  the  foremost,  and  [hitherto]  vic- 
torious, thus  in  mid-sea  accosts  Menoetes,  the  pilot  of  his  ship : 
Whither,  I  pray,  are  you  going  so  far  to  the  right  ?  this  way 
steer  your  course ;  keep  to  the  shore,  and  let  the  oar  graze 
upon  the  rocks  to  the  left :  let  others  stand  out  to  sea.  He 
said :  but  Menoetes,  dreading  the  hidden  rocks,  turns  out  his 
prow  toward  the  waves.  Gyas  with  loud  voice  called  to  him 
again,  Menoetes,  whither  are  you  steering  opposite  ?  once  more, 
I  say,  keep  to  the  rocks :  And  lo !  he  espies  Cloanthus 
pressing  on  his  rear,  and  keeping  a  nearer  compass.  He,  be- 
tween Gyas'  ship  and  the  roaring  rocks,  brushes  along  the 
left-hand  path  on  the  inside,  and  suddenly  gets  ahead  of  him 
who  was  before,  and  leaving  the  goal,  gains  the  safe  seas. 
Then  indeed  severe  grief  blazed  up  in  the  inmost  vitals  of  the 
youth  :  nor  were  his  cheeks  free  from  tears ;  and  regardless 
both  of  his  own  dignity  and  the  safety  of  his  friends,  he  hurls11 
dastardly  Mencetes  headlong  from  the  lofty  stern  into  the  sea. 
Himself  succeeds  to  the  helm,  both  as  pilot  and  commander ; 
encourages  his  men,  and  turns  his  rudder  to  the  shore.  But 
when  encumbered  Menoetes  with  difficulty  at  length  had  risen 
from  the  deep  bottom  being  now  in  years,  and  languid  by 
reason  of  his  wet  garments,  he  crawls  up  to  the  summit  of  the 
rock,  and  sat  down  on  the  dry  cliff.  The  Trojans  laughed 
both  to  see  him  fall,  and  to  see  him  swimming ;  and  they  re- 
new their  laughter  when  from  his  breast  he  vomits  up  the 
briny  wave.  Here  Sergestus  and  Mnestheus,  the  two  last, 
were  fired  with  joyous  hope  to  outstrip  Gyas  lagging  behind. 
Sergestus  gets  the  start,  and  makes  up  to  the  rock,  nor  yet 
had  he  the  advantage  by  the  whole  length  of  the  ship,  only  by 
a  part :  the  rival  Pristis  partly  presses  him  with  her  beak. 
But  Mnestheus,  on  the  mid-deck  walking  among  his  crew,  ani- 
mates them :  My  Hectorean1"  bands,  whom  I  chose  associates 
iu  Troy's  last  fatal  hour,  now,  now  with  keenness  ply  your 

11  "  Deturbare,  dejicere,  demovere."    Nonius  ii.  p.  540,  ed.  GothoE  B. 
11  Instead  of  "  Hectorei  socii,"  Rufinianus,  §  35,  p.  221,  ed.  Ruhnk., 
reads,  "hortor  voa  socii."     B. 


B.  V.  191—225.  ^ENEID.  203 

oars  ;  now  exert  that  vigor,  now  that  soul  of  which  you  were 
masters  in  the  quicksands  of  Getulia,  in  the  Ionian  Sea, 
and  on  Malea's13  coast,  where  waves  succeeding  waves  pur- 
sued us.  Your  Mnestheus  aspires  not  now  to  the  foremost 
place,  nor  contends  for  the  victory :  though  would  to  heaven  ! 
but  may  those  conquer  to  whom  thou,  O  Neptune,  hast  given 
that  boon.  Let  us  be  ashamed  to  come  in  the  last.  Sur- 
mount, my  countrymen,  and  repel  that  criminal  disgrace.  They 
bend  to  the  oar  with  the  greatest  emulation :  the  brazen- 
beaked  galley  trembles  with  the  vast  strokes,  and  the  [watery] 
surface  flies  from  under  them.  Then  thick  panting  shakes 
their  limbs  and  parched  jaws  :  sweat  flows  from  every  pore  in 
rivulets.  Mere  chance  procured  the  men  the  wished-for  honor : 
for  while  Sergestus,  between  Mnestheus  and  the  goal,  in  his 
furious  career,  is  pressing  up  the  head  of  the  ship  to  the 
rocks,  and  steers  in  a  disadvantageous  place,  he  unluckily 
stuck  among  the  jutting  rocks.  The  cliffs  are  shaken,  and  'on 
a  sharp  reef  the  struggling  oars  were  loudly  snapped,  and  the 
prow  dashed  against  [the  rocks]  stood  suspended.  The  marin- 
ers arise  together,  and  with  great  clamor  desist ;  and  apply 
stakes  shod  with  iron,  and  poles  with  sharpened  points,  and 
gather  up  their  shattered  oars  on  the  stream.  Meanwhile 
Mnestheus  rejoiced,  and  more  animated  by  this  same  success, 
with  the  nimble  march  of  the  oars,  and  winds  called  to  his  aid, 
cuts  the  easy  waves,  and  scuds  away  on  the  open  sea.  As 
a  pigeon,  whose  nest  and  darling  young  are  in  some  harbor- 
•ing  rock,  suddenly  scared  from 'her  covert,  flies  away  into  the 
fields, ^and,  starting  in  a  fright,  gives  a  loud  flapping  with  her 
wings  against  the  nest ;  then,  shooting  through  the  calm  still 
air,  skims1*  along  the  liquid  way,  nor  moves  her  noble  pin- 
ions :  thus  Mnestheus,  thus  the  Pristis  herself  in  her  career, 
cuts  the  utmost  boundary  of  the  watery  plain  ;  thus  the  mere 
vehemence  of  her  motion  carries  her  forward  in  her  flying 
course.  And  first  she  leaves  behind  her  Sergestus  strug- 
gling against  the  high  rocks  and  scanty  shallows,  in  vain 
imploring  aid,  and  trying  to  row  on  with  shattered  oars.  Then 
he  overtakes  Gyas,  and  Chimera's  self  of  mighty  bulk :  she 
yields,  because  she  is  deprived  of  her  pilot.  And  now,  in  the 
very  end  of  the  course,  Cloanthus  alone  is  before  him  ;  whom 

13  Malea,  a  promontory  of  Peloponnesus,  on  the  southern  coast  o. 
Laconia,  dangerous  to  navigators. 

14  ?i£vpbv  oifiov  aideopf  ^aipei  x-fpolf.     JEsch.  Prom.  394.     B. 


204  -rfENEID.  B.  V.  226—258. 

he  endeavors  to  reach,  and,  straining,  -with  the  utmost  vigor, 
pursues.  Then,  indeed,  the  shouts  redouble,  and  all,  with 
uearty  applauses,  stimulate  him  in  the  pursuit,  and  the  sky 
resounds  with  roaring  acclamations.  These  are  fired  with  in- 
dignation, lest  they  should  lose  their  possession  of  glory  and 
the  honor  they  have  won ;  and  they  are  willing  to  barter  life 
for  renown.  Those  success  cherishes ;  they  are  able  because 
they  seem  to  be  able.  And,  perhaps,  they  had  both  gained 
the  prize  with  equaled  beaks,14  had  not  Cloanthus,  stretching 
out  his  hands  to  the  sea,  poured  forth  prayers  and  invoked  the 
gods  to  his  vows :  Ye  gods,  to  whom  belongs  the  empire  of 
the  main,  over  whose  seas  I  sail,  I,  bound  by  vow,10  will 
joyously  present  before  your  altars  a  snow-white  bull  on  this 
shore,  and  cast  forth  the  entrails  on  the  briny  wave  [as  an 
offering  to  you],  and  make  a  libation  of  pure  wine.  He  said  : 
and  the  whole  choir  of  the  Nereids  and  Phorcus,17  and  the 
virgin  Panopea,  heard  him  from  the  bottom  of  the  waves  ;  and 
father  Portunus1*  himself,  with  his  mighty  hand,  pushed  on 
the  galley  in  her  course.  She  flies  to  land  swifter  than  the 
south  wind,  and  the  winged  arrow,  and  lodged  herself  in  the 
harbor's  deep  recess.  Then  Anchises'  son,  having  assembled 
all  in  form,  proclaims  Cloanthus  conqueror,  by  the  loud  voice 
of  the  herald,  and  crowns  his  temples  with  verdant  laurel ; 
allows  him  the  choice  of  three  bullocks  as  presents  for  the 
galleys,  and  gives  him  wine  and  a  great  talent  of  silver  to 
carry  away.  On  the  leaders  themselves  he  confers  peculiar 
honors :  to  the  conqueror  he  presents  a  mantle  embroidered 
with  gold,  round  which  a  thick  fringe  of  Melibean  purple  ran 
in  a  double  maze,  and  where  the  royal  boy  [Ganymede]  in- 
woven pursues,  with  darts  and  full  career,  the  fleet  stags  on 
woody  Ida,  eager,  seeming  to  pant  for  breath ;  whom  Jove's 
swift  armor-bearer,  with  his  crooked  talons,  snatched  aloft 
from  Ida.  The  aged  keepers  in  vain  stretch  out  their  hands 
to  the  stars,  and  the  baying  of  the  hounds  rages  to  the  skies. 
To  him  who  by  his  merit  won  the  second  place,  he  gives  to 

18  i.  e.  "  they  would  have  both  come  in  together."     B. 

16  He  is  said  to  be  reus  voti  who  has  undertaken  a  vow  on  a  certain 
condition ;  and  when  that  condition  is  fulfilled,  then  he  is  damnatua 
voti,  or  votis,  i.  e.  the  gods  condemn  and  sentence  him  to  pay  his  vow. 

"  Phorcus,  a  sea-deity,  son  of  Pontus  and  Terra,  and  father  of  the 
Gorgons. 

18  Portunus,  a  name  of  Melicorta. 


a  v.  259—294  wENEID.  205 

wear  a  coat  of  mail,  thick  set  with  polished  rings,  and  wrought 
in  gold  with  a  triple  tissue,  which  he  himself  victorious  had 
torn  from  Demoleus  by  rapid  Simoi's  under  lofty  Ilium  :  to  be 
his  ornament  and  defense  in  war.  The  servants,  Phegeus 
and  Sagaris,  with  united  force,  scarcely  bore  the  cumbrous 
[armor]  oa  their  shoulders :  but  Demoleus,  formerly  clad 
therein,  used  to  chase  before  him  the  straggling  Trojans.  For 
the  third  present  he  bestows  two  caldrons  of  brass,  and  silver 
bowls  of  finished  work,  and  rough  with  figures.  And  thus 
now  all  rewarded,  and  elated  with  their  wealth,  were  moving 
along,  having  their  temples  bound  with  scarlet  fillets,  when 
Sergestus  brought  up  his  hooted  galley  without  honor,  hardly 
with  much  art  disentangled  from  the  cruel  rock,  with  the  loss 
of  her  oars,  find  in  one  tier  quite  disabled.  As  often  a  ser- 
pent surprised  in  the  highway  (which  a  brazen  wheel  hath 
gone  athwart,  or  a  traveler,  coming  heavy  with  a  blow,  hath 
left  half  dead  and  mangled  by  a  stone),  attempting  in  vain  to 
fly,  shoots  his  body  in  long  wreaths ;  in  one  part  fierce,  dart- 
ing fire  from  his  eyes,  and  rearing  aloft  his  hissing  neck ;  the 
other  part,  maimed  with  the  wound,  retards  him,  twisting  [his 
body]  in  knots,  and  winding  himself  up  on  his  own  limbs : 
with  such  kind  of  steerage  the  ship  slowly  moved  along :  her 
sails,  however,  she  expands,  and  enters  the  port  with  full  sail. 
^Eneas  gladly  confers  on  Sergestus  the  promised  reward  for 
preserving  the  vessel,  and  bringing  the  crew  safe  back.  To 
him  is  given  a  female  slave,  not  unskillful  in  the  works  of 
Minerva,  Pholoe,  a  Cretan  by  extraction,  with  her  two  chil- 
dren on  the  breast ) 

This  game  being  over,  pious  ^Eneas  advances  to  a  grassy 
plain,  which  woods  on  winding  hills  inclosed  around  ;  and  in 
the  mid  valley  was  the  circuit  of  a  theater,  whither  the  hero, 
in  the  midst  of  many  thousands,  repaired,  and  took  a  high 
seat.  Here  he  offers  inviting  rewards  to  those  who  chanced 
to  be  inclined  to  enter  the  lists  in  the  rapid  race,  and  exhibits 
the  prizes.  The  Trojans  and  Sicilians,  in  mingled  throngs, 
convene  from  every  quarter ;  Nisus  and  Euryalus19  the  first : 

"  Nisus  and  Euryalus,  two  Trojans  who  accompanied  JEneas  to  Italy, 
and  immortalized  themselves  by  their  mutual  friendship.  They  fought 
with  great  bravery  against  the  Rutulians,  but  at  last  Nisus  perished  in 
attempting  the  rescue  of  his  friend  Euryalus,  who  had  fallen  into  the 
enemy's  hands. 


206  -(ENEID.  B.  V.  295—333. 

Euryalus,  distinguished  by  his  lovely  form  and  blooming 
youth ;  Nisus,  by  his  true  affection  for  the  boy :  whom  next 
Diores  followed,  a  royal  youth  of  Priam's  illustrious  line. 
After  him  Salius,  and  with  him  Patron ;  of  whom  the  one 
was  an  Arcarnanian,  the  other  from  Arcadia,  of  the  blood  of 
the  Tegaean  race.  Next  two  Sicilian  youths,  Elymus  and 
Panopes,  trained  to  the  woods,  the  companions  of  aged 
Acestes ;  and  many  more  besides,  whom  fame  hath  buried  in 
obscurity.  In  the  midst  of  whom  thus  ^Eaeas  spoke :  Mark 
these  my  words,  and  attend  with  joy :  none  of  this  throng 
shall  go  unrewarded  by  me.  Two  bright  Gnossian20  darts  of 
polished  steel,  and  a  carved  battle-ax  of  silver,  I  will  give 
[each  man]  to  bear  away.  This  honor  shall  be  conferred 
equally  on  all.  The  first  three  shall  receive  prizes,  and  shall 
have  their  heads  bound  with  swarthy  olive.  Let  the  first  con- 
queror have  a  steed  adorned  with  rich  trappings ;  the  second 
an  Amazonian21  quiver  full  of  Thracian  arrows,  which  a  broad 
belt  of  gold  around  embraces,  and  a  buckle  clasps  with  a 
tapering  gem:  and  let  the  third  content  himself  with  this 
Grecian  helmet.  When  he  had  thus  said,  they  take  their  re- 
spective places,  and  upon  hearing  the  signal,  start  in  a  trice, 
and  quit  the  barrier,  darting  forward  like  a  tempest :  at  the 
same  time  they  mark  the  goal.  Nisus  gets  the  start,  and 
springs  away  far  before  the  rest,  outflying  the  winds  and 
winged  lightning.  Next  to  him,  but  next  by  a  long  interval, 
follows  Salius :  then  after  him  Euryalus,  with  some  space  left 
[between  them] ;  and  Elymus  follows  Euryalus ;  close  by 
whose  side,  lo !  next  Diores  flies,  and  now  jostles  heel  with 
heel,  pressing  on  his  shoulder ;  and,  had  more  stages  remained, 
he  had  skipped  away  before  him,  or  left  the  victory  dubious. 
And  now  they  were  almost  in  the  utmost  bound,  and,  ex- 
hausted, were  approaching  toward  the  very  goal;  when  un- 
happy Nisus  slides  in  a  slippery  puddle  of  blood,  as  by  chance 
it  had  been  shed  on  the  ground  from  victims  slain,  and  soaked 
the  verdant  grass.  Here  the  youth,  already  flushed  with  the 
joy  of  victory,  could  not  support  his  tottering  steps  on  the 
ground  he  trod,  but  fell  headlong  amid  the  noisome  filth  and 

30  Gnossian  darts,  *'.  e.  Cretan  darts,  from  Cnossus,  or  Gnossus,  a  city 
of  Crete. 

21  Amazonian  quivers :  the  Amazons  were  a  warlike  nation  of  women, 
who  lived  near  the  river  Thermodon  in  Pontus. 


B.  v.  334—370.  ^ENEID.  207 

sacred  gore.  He,  however,  was  not  then  forgetful  of  Eury- 
alus,  nor  of  their  mutual  affection ;  for,  as  he  rose  from  the 
slippery  mire,  he  opposed  himself  to  Salius :  he  again,  tum- 
bling backward,  lay  prostrate  on  the  clammy  sand.  Euryalus 
springs  forward,  and  victorious  by  the  kindness  of  his  friend, 
holds  the  foremost  place,  and  flies  with  favoring  applause 
and  acclamation.  Elymus  comes  in  next ;  and  Diores,  now 
[entitled  to]  the  third  prize.  Here  Salius  fills  the  whole  as- 
sembly of  the  ample  pit,  and  the  front  seats  of  the  fathers, 
with  loud  outcries,  and  demands  the  prize  to  be  given  to  him- 
self, from  whom  it  was  snatched  away  by  unfair  means.  The 
favor  [of  the  spectators]  befriends  Euryalus,  and  his  graceful 
tears,  and  merit  that  appears  more  lovely  in  a  comely  per- 
son. Diores  aids  him,  and  exclaims  with  bawling  voice  ;  who 
succeeded  to  a  prize,  and  had  a  claim  to  the  last  reward  in 
vain,  if  the  first  honors  be  given  to  Salius.  Then  father 
^Eueas  said:  Your  rewards,  youths,  stand  fixed,  and  none 
shall  turn  the  prize  out  of  its  due  course :  give  me  leave  to 
compassionate  the  disaster  of  my  innocent  friend.  This  said, 
he  gives  to  Salius  the  huge  hide  of  a  Getulian  lion,  ponderous 
with  shaggy  fur  and  gilt  claws.  Upon  this  Nisus  says,  If  to 
the  vanquished  such  rewards  be  given,  and  your  pity  be  ex- 
tended to  those  that  fell,  what  gifts  are  due  to  Nisus?  [to 
me,]  who  by  my  merit  won  the  first  prize,  had  not  the  same 
unkind  fortune  which  bore  Salius  down  overpowered  me. 
And  with  these  words  he  at  the  same  time  showed  his  face 
and  limbs  besmeared  with  oozy  filth.  The  excellent  father 
smiled  on  his  plight,  and  ordered  the  buckler  to  be  produced, 
Didymaon's  ingenious  work,  torn  down  by  the  Greeks  from 
the  sacred  posts  of  Neptune's  temple.  With  this  signal  pres- 
ent he  rewards  the  illustrious  youth. 

Next,  when  the  race  was  finished,  and  the  prizes -were  dis- 
tributed :  Now,  [says  he,]  whoever  he  may  be  in  whose  breast 
courage  and  resolution  dwell,  let  him  stand  forth,  and  raise 
aloft  his  arms,  having  his  hands  bound  [with  the  cestus.]  He 
said,  and  proposes  a  double  prize  for  the  combat :  to  the  con- 
queror a  bullock  decked  with  gold  and  fillets ;  a  sword  and 
shining  helm,  the  solace  of  the  vanquished.  Without  delay, 
Dares  shows  his  face  with  strength  prodigious,  and  rears  him- 
self amid  the  loud  murmurs  of  the  spectators ;  he  who  alone 
was  wont  to  enter  the  lists  with  Paris ;  the  same  at  the  tomb 


208  ^ENEID.  R  T.  371—403. 

where  mighty  Hector  lies,  struck  down  victorious  Butes"  of 
mighty  frame,   who   boasted   his  descent  from   the  race  of 
Amycus,  king  of  Bebrycia,  and  stretched  him  gasping  on  the 
tawny  sand.     Such  Dares  uprears  his  lofty  head  first  in  the 
lists,  and  presents  his  broad  shoulders,  and  in  alternate  throws 
brandishes  his  arms  around,  and  beats  the  air  with  his  fists. 
For  him  a  match  is  sought ;  nor  dares  one  of  all  that  numerous 
crowd  encounter  him,  and  draw  the  gauntlets  on  his  hands. 
Elated,  therefore,  and  imagining  that  all  had  quitted  preten- 
sion to  the  prize,  he  stood  before  ^Eneas'  feet :  and  then,  with- 
out further  delay,  with  his  left  hand  he  seizes  the  bull  by  the 
horns,  and  thus  speaks :  Goddess-born,  if  no  one  will  dare  to 
trust  himself  to  the  combat,  where  will  be  the  end  of  hanging 
on  ?  how  long  must  I  be  detained  ?     Order  the  presents  to 
be  brought.     At  the  same  time  all  the  Trojans  murmured  their 
consent,  and  ordered  the  promised   prizes  to  be  delivered  to 
him.     Then  venerable  Acestes  thus  chides  Entellus,  as  he  sat 
beside  him  on   the  verdant  grassy  couch :  Entellus,  in  vain 
[reputed]  the  stoutest  of  champions  once,  will  you  then  suffer 
so  great  prizes  to  be  carried  off  without  any  contest  ?     Where 
is  now  that  god  of  ours,  Eryx,  whom  you  in  vain  gave  out  to 
be  your  master  ?  where  is  your  fame  through  all   Trinacria  ? 
where  the  spoils  that  used  to  hang  from  your  roof?     He  to  this 
immediately  [replies] :  It   is   not  that  my  thirst  of  praise  is 
gone,  or  my  glory  has  departed,  driven  away  by  fear  :  but  my 
frozen  blood  languishes  through  enfeebling  age,  and  the  strength 
worn  out  in  my  body  is  benumbed.     Did  I  but  now  enjoy  that 
youth  which  once  I  had,  and  wherein  that  varlet  triumphs 
with  vain  confidence,  then  would  I  have  taken  the  field :  not 
indeed  induced  by  the  prize  of  this  fair  bullock,  for  I  regard 
not  rewards.     Thus  having  spoken,  he  then  throws  into  the 
midst  a  pair  of  gauntlets23  of  huge  weight ;  wherewith  fierce 
Eryx  was  wont  to  engage  in  the  fight,  and  to  brace  his  arms 
with  the  stubborn  hide.   Amazement  seized  their  minds.   Seven 

22  Butes,  a  descendant  of  Amycus,  king  of  Bebrycia  (Bithynia),  killed 
by  Dares  at  the  tomb  of  Hector.  At  the  funeral  games  of  Anchises  in 
Sicily,  Dares  was  overcome  at  the  combat  of  the  cestus,  by  Entellus,  a 
friend  of  Acestes. 

**  Caestus.  The  csestus  was  a  sort  of  leathern  guards  for  the  hands, 
composed  of  thongs,  and  commonly  filled  with  lead  or  iron,  to  add  force 
and  weight  to  the  blow :  though  others,  indeed,  will  have  them  to  have 
been  a  kind  of  whirlbats  or  bludgeons  of  wood,  with  lead  at  one  end. 

*  >' 


B.  v.  404 — 429.  ^ENEID.  209 

huge  thongs  of  such  vast  oxen  lay  stiffening  with  lead  and  iron 
sewed  within.  Above  all  Dares  himself  stands  aghast,  and 
utterly  declines  the  combat:  and  the  magnanimous  son  of 
Anchises  this  way  and  that  way  poises  the  weight  and  the 
complicated  folds  of  the  gauntlets.  Then  the  aged  champion 
thus  spoke  from  his  soul :  What  if  any  [of  you]  had  seen  the 
gauntlet  and  arms  of  Hercules  himself,  and  the  bloody34  com- 
bat on  this  very  shore  ?  These  arms  your  brother  Eryx  form- 
erly wore.  You  see  them  yet  stained  with  blood  and  shat- 
tered brains.  With  these  he  stood  against  great  Alcides ;  with 
these  I  was  wont  [to  combat],  while  better  blood  supplied  me 
with  strength,  nor  envious  age  as  yet  had  scattered  gray  hairs 
over  my  temples.  But  if  Trojan  Dares  decline  these  our 
arms,  and  if  the  pious  ^Eneas  be  so  determined,  and  Acestes, 
who  prompts  me  [to  the  fight],  approve,  let  us  be  equally 
matched :  To  oblige  you,  I  lay  aside  the  weapons  of  Eryx ; 
dismiss  your  fears,  and  do  you  put  off  your  Trojan  gauntlets. 
This  said,  he  flung  from  his  shoulders  his  double  vest,  and 
bared  his  huge  limbs,  his  big  bones  and  sinewy  arms,  and 
stood  forth  of  mighty  frame  in  the  middle  of  the  field.  Then 
the  sL-j,  sprung  from  Anchises,  brought  forth  equal  gauntlets, 
and  bound  both  their  hands  with  equal  arms.  Forthwith 
each  on  his  tiptoes  stood  erect,  and  undaunted  raised  his  arms 
aloft  in  the  air.  Far  from  the  blow  they  backward  withdrew 
their  towering  heads :  now  hand  to  hand  they  join  in  close 
encounter,  and  provoke  the  fight ;  the  one  having  the  advan- 

But  the  description  Virgil  gives  of  these  weapons,  particularly  when  he 
calls  them  immensa  volumina  vinclorum,  408,  and  says,  425, 

Et  paribus  palmas  amborum  innexuit  armis, 

agrees  to  the  former  idea,  but  by  no  means  to  the  latter.  They  were  tied 
about  the  arm  as  high  as  the  elbow,  both  as  a  guard  to  the  arm,  and  to 
keep  them  from  sliding  off  Some  derive  the  name  from  KE^-OV,  a  girdle  • 
others  from  casdo,  to  kill ;  which  last  answers  well  enough  to  the  nature 
of  the  combat,  which  was  so  cruel  and  bloody,  that  Lycurgus  made  a 
law  forbidding  the  Lacedaemonians  to  practice  it. 

24  The  combat  is  called  tristis,  woeful,  or  bloody,  because  Eryx  was 
slain  in  it  by  Hercules.  The  occasion  of  the  combat  is  thus  related. 
Hercules  having  put  to  death  Geryon,  king  of  Spain,  was  returning  with 
his  booty,  which  was  a  herd  of  fine  oxen :  and  having  visited  Sicily  in  his 
way,  received  a  challenge  from  Eryx,  king  of  the  island,  to  fight  him  with 
the  gauntlet.  If  the  victory  fell  to  Eryx,  he  was  to  have  Hercules's 
oxen ;  but  if  he  was  vanquished,  then  the  whole  island  of  Sicily  was  to 
bo  Hercules's  property.  Thus  Eryx  lost  both  his  life  and  his  crown. 


210  ^ENEID.  B.  v.  430—465. 

tage  in  agility  of  foot,  and  relying  on  his  youth  ;   the  other 
surpassing  in  limbs  and  bulk ;   but  his  feeble  knees  sink  under 
his  trembling  body :   his  difficult  breathing   shakes  his  vast 
frame.     The   heroes  deal   many  blows    to  one   another  with 
erring   aim,  and   many  on   the  hollow  sides   redouble;  from 
their  breasts  [the   thumps]  resound   aloud,  and   round   their 
ears  and   temples  thick   strokes   at   random  fly ;  their  jaws 
crackle  under  the  heavy  blow.     Entellus  stands  stiff  and  un- 
moved in  the   same   firm   posture,  only  with   his   body  and 
watchful   eyes   evades  the   strokes.     The   other,  as   one  who 
besieges  a  lofty  city  with  batteries,  or   under  arms  besets  a 
mountain  fortress,  explores  now  these,  now  those  approaches, 
and   artfully   traverses  the   whole   ground,   and   pursues  his 
attack  with  various  assaults,  still  baffled.     Entellus,  rising  on 
tiptoe,  extended  his  right  arm,  and   lifted   it   on   high  :   the 
other  nimbly  foresaw  the  blow  descending  from  above,  and 
with  agility  of  body  shifting,  slipped  from   under  it.     Entel- 
lus spent  his  strength  on  the  wind  ;   and,  both  by  the  force  of 
his  own  natural  weight,  and  the  violence  of  the  motion,  falls 
to  the  ground  of  himself  with  his  heavy  bulk  ;  as  sometimes, 
on  Erymanthus"  or  spacious  Ida,  a  hollow  pine  torn  from  the 
roots  tumbles  down  at  once.      The  Trojan  and  Sicilian  youth 
rise  together  with  eager  feelings  :  these  acclamations  pierce 
the  skies ;  and  Acestes  first  advances  in  haste,  and  in  pity 
raises  from  the  ground  his  friend  of  equal  age.     But  the  hero, 
not  disabled  nor  daunted  by  his  fall,  returns  to  the  combat 
more  fierce,  and  indignation  rouses  his  spirit :   then  shame  and 
conscious  worth  set  all  the  powers  of  his  soul  on  fire ;  and 
inflamed  he  drives  Dares  headlong  over  the  whole  plain,  re- 
doubling blows   on   blows,  sometimes  with   the   right  hand, 
sometimes  with  the  left.     No  stop,  no  stay :  as  thick  showers 
of  hail  come  rattling  down  on  the  housetops,  so  with  thick 
repeated  blows,  the  hero  thumps  Dares  with  each  hand,  and 
tosses    him    hither    and  thither.      Then    father   ./Eneas   suf- 
fered  not  their  fury  longer  to  exert  itself,  nor   Entellus  to 
rage  with  such  fierce  animosity :  but  put  an  end  to  the  com- 
bat, and  rescued  Dares  quite  overpowered,  soothing  him  with 
words,  and   bespeaks   him   in  these   terms :  Unhappy  !  what 
strong  infatuation  possessed  your  mind  ?     Are  you  not  sensible 

85  Erymanthus,  a  mountain  of  Arcadia,  where  Hercules   slew  the 
famous  Eiymanthian  boar. 


B.  v.  466— 504.  JENEID.  211 

of  [his  having]  foreign  assistance,  and  that  the  gods  have 
changed  sides  ?  Yield  to  the  deity.  He  said,  and  by  his  word 
put  an  end  to  the  combat.  As  for  Dares,  his  trusty  com- 
panions conduct  him  to  the  ships,  dragging  his  feeble  limbs, 
and  tossing  his  head  to  either  side,  disgorging  from  his  throat 
clotted  gore,  and  teeth  mingled  with  his  blood ;  and,  at  ./Eneas' 
call,  they  take  the  heimet  and  sword,  leave  the  palm  and  bull 
to  Entellus.  At  this  the  conqueror,  in  soul  elated,  and  proud 
of  the  bull,  says :  Goddess-born,  and  ye  Trojans,  hence  know 
both  what  strength  I  have  had  in  my  youthful  limbs,  and  from 
what  death  you  have  saved  Dares.  He  said,  and  stood  against 
the  front  of  the  opposite  bull  that  was  set  for  the  prize'  of  the 
combat,  and  rearing  himself  up,  with  his  right  hand  drawn 
back,  leveled  the  cruel  gauntlets  directly  between  the  horns, 
and,  battering  the  skull,  drove  through  the  bones.  Down 
drops  the  ox,  and,  in  the  pangs  of  death,  falls  sprawling  to  the 
ground.  Over  him  he  utters  these  words :  This  life,  more 
acceptable,  O  Eryx,  I  give  thee  in  exchange  for  Dares'  death ; 
here,  victorious,  I  lay  down  the  gauntlets  with  my  art. 

^Eneas  forthwith  invites  such  as  may  be  willing  to  try  their 
skill  with  the  swift  arrow,  and  sets  prizes ;  and  with  his 
mighty  hand  raised  a  mast  taken  from  Serestus'  ship,  and  from 
the  high  mast  hangs  a  fluttering  dove  by  a  rope  thrust  through 
at  which  they  may  aim  their  shafts.  The  competitors  assem- 
ble ;  and  a  brazen  helmet  received  the  shuffled  lots.  The  lot 
of  Hippocoon,ae  the  son  of  Hyrtacus,  comes  out  first  of  all 
with  favoring  shouts ;  whom  follows  Mnestheus,  lately  victor 
in  the  naval  strife,  Mnestheus,  crowned  with  green  olive.  The 
third  is  Eurytion,  the  brother,  illustrious  Pandarus,  of  thee, 
who,  once  urged  to  violate  the  treaty,  didst  first  hurl  thy  dart 
into  the  midst  of  the  Greeks.  Acestes  remained  the  last,  and 
in  the  bottom  of  the  helmet;  he  too  adventuring  with  his 
[aged]  hand  to  essay  the  feats  of  youth.  Then  with  stout 
force  they  bend  their  pliant  bows,  each  man  according  to  his 
ability,  and  draw  forth  their  arrows  from  their  quivers.  And 
first  the  arrow  of  young  Hyrtacus'  son,  shot  through  the  sky 
from  the  whizzing  string,  cleaves  the  fleeting  air,  both  reaches 
[the  mark],  and  fixes  in  the  wood  of  the  opposite  mast.  The 

25  Hippocoon  was  brother  to  Xisus,  and  the  friend  of  ./Eneas.  Eury- 
tion and  Pandarus  were  sons  of  Lycaon ;  the  latter  was  slain  by  Dio- 
mede,  in  the  Trojan  war. 


212  -S3NEID.  B.  T.  505—542. 

mast  quivered ;  and  the  frighted  bird,  by  its  wings,  showed 
signs  of  fear  ;  and  all  quarters  rang  with  loud  applause.  Next 
keen  Mnestheus  stood  with  his  bow  close  drawn,37  aiming  on 
high,  and  directed  his  eye  and  arrow  both  together.  But  it 
was  his  misfortune  not  to  be  able  to  hit  the  bird  itself  with  his 
shaft;  he  burst  the  cords  and  hempen  ligaments, to  which  it 
hung  tied  by  the  foot  from  the  high  mast.  She  with  winged 
speed  shot  into  the  air  and  dusky  clouds.  Then  Eurytion  in 
eager  haste,  having  his  arrow  long  before  extended  on  the 
ready  bow,  poured  forth  a  vow  to  his  brother  [Pandarus],  as 
he  now  beheld  the  joyful  dove  in  the  void  sky,  and  pierced 
hdr  under  a  dark  cloud  as  she  was  clapping  her  wings.  She 
dropped  down  dead,  and  left  her  life  among  the  stars  of  heaven; 
and,  falling  to  the  ground,  brings  back  the  arrow  fastened 
[in  the  wound].  Acestes  alone  remained  after  the  prize  was 
lost ;  who,  notwithstanding,  discharged  his  shaft  into  the 
aerial  regions,  the  sire  displaying  both  his  address  and  twang- 
ing bow."  Here  is  unexpectedly  presented  to  view  a  prodigy, 
designed  to  be  of  high  portent ;  this  the  important  event  after- 
ward declared,  and  the  alarming  soothsayers  predicted  the 
omens  late.  For  the  arrow,  flying  among  the  watery  clouds, 
took  fire,  and  with  the  flames  marked  out  a  path,  till,  being 
quite  consumed,  it  vanished  into  thin  air ;  as  often  stars  loos- 
ened from  the  firmament  shoot  across,  and  flying  draw  [after 
them]  a  train  of  light.  The  Sicilians  and  Trojans  stood  fixed 
in  astonishment,  and  besought  the  gods ;  nor  does  mighty 
JEneas  reject  the  omen,  but,  embracing  Acestes  overjoyed, 
loads  him  with  ample  rewards,  and  thus  bespeaks  him :  Ac- 
cept these,  O  sire,  for  the  great  king  of  heaven,  by  these 
omens,  has  signified  his  will,  that  you  receive  the  honor  [of 
the  victory,  though]  out  of  course.  This  gift,  which  belonged 
to  aged  Anchises'  self,  you  shall  possess;  a  bowl  embossed 
with  figures,  which  Thracian  Cisseus  formerly  gave  for  a 
magnificent  present  to  my  sire,  as  a  monument  and  pledge  of 
his  love.  This  said,  he  crowns  his  temples  with  verdant 
laurel,  and  in  view  of  all  pronounces  Acestes  the  first  con- 
queror. Nor  does  good  Eurytion  envy  him  the  preference  in 
honor,  though  he  alone  struck  down  the  bird  from  the  ex- 

27  This  is  the  force  of  "  adducto,"  denoting  that  the  bow  was  fully 
drawn.     C£  SiL  i.  334.  Ovid  Met  i.  435.     B. 

23  f.  e.  having  lost  the  mark,  he  showed  to  what  height  he  could  shoot 


4       • 

B.  v.  543—577.  .iBNEID.  213 

alted  sky.     He  next  comes  in  for  a  prize,  who  broke  the  cords ; 
the  last  is  he  who  pierced  the  mast  with  his  winged  shaft. 

But  father  JEneas,  the  games  not  being  yet  ended,  calls  to 
him  the  son  of  Egyptus,  young  lulus'  guardian  and  companion, 
and  thus  whispers  in  his  trusty  ear  :  Go  quick,  says  he,  desire 
Ascanius  (if  he  has  now  gotten  ready  with  him  his  company 
of  boys,  and  has  arranged  the  movements  of  the  horses)  to 
bring  up  his  troops,  and  show  himself  in  arms  in  honor  of  his 
grandsire.  He  himself  orders  the  crowd  to  remove  from  the 
extended  circus,  and  the  field  to  be  cleared.  The  boys  advance 
in  procession,  and  uniformly  shine  on  the  bridled  steeds  full 
in  their  parents'  sight ;  in  admiration  of  whom,  as  they  career 
along,  the  whole  Trojan  and  Trinacrian  youth  join  in  acclama- 
tions. All  in  due  form  had  their  hair  pressed  with  a  trim 
garland.  They  bear  two  cornel  spears  pointed  with  steel ; 
some  have  polished  quivers  on  their  shoulders.  A  pliant  circle 
of  wreathed  gold  goes  from  the  upper  part  of  their  breasts 
about  their  necks.  Three  troops  of  horsemen,  and  three 
leaders,  range  over  the  plain :  twelve  striplings  following 
each,  shine  in  a  separate  body,  and  with  commanders  equally 
matched.  One  band  of  youths  young  Priam,  bearing  his 
grandsire's  name,  leads  triumphant ;  thy  illustrious  offspring, 
O  Polites,29  who  shall  one  day  do  honor  to  the  Italians,  whom 
a  Thracian  courser  bears,  dappled  with  white  spots  ;  the  fet- 
locks of  his  foremost  feet  are  white,  and,  tossing  his  head 
aloft,  he  displays  a  white  front.  The  second  is  Atys,30  from 
whom  the  Attii  of  Rome  have  derived  their  origin ;  little 
Atys,  a  boy  beloved  by  the  boy  lulus.  lulus  the  last,  and  in 
beauty  distinguished  from  all  the  rest,  rode  on  a  Sidonian 
steed  which  fair  Dido  had  given  him  as  a  monument  and 
pledge  of  her  love.  The  rest  of  the  youths  ride  on  Trinacrian 
horses  of  aged  Acestes.  The  Trojans  with  shouts  of  applause 
receive  them  anxious  [for  honor],31  and  are  well-pleased 
with  the  sight,  and  recognize  the  features  of  the  aged  sires. 
Now  when  the  joyous  youths  had  paraded  on  horseback  round 

29  Polites,  a  son  of  Priam  and  Hecuba,  whose  son,  also  named  Priam, 
accompanied  JEneas  to  Italy,  and  was  one  of  the  friends  of  young 
Ascanius. 

3U  Atys,  who  also  accompanied  JEneas,  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
progenitor  of  the  family  of  the  Attii  at  Rome. 

31  i.  e.  "  eager  with  excitement."  So  Servius,  "  glorias  cupiditate  sol- 
licitos."  B. 


J3NEID.  B.  v.  578 — 603. 

the  whole  ring,  and  full  in  their  parents'  view,  Epytus'  son, 
from  afar,  gave  a  signal  to  them  by  a  shout,  as  they  stood 
ready,  and  clanked  with  the  lash.  They  broke  away  in  parted 
order,  keeping  the  same  front,  and  broke  up  the  troops  into 
separate  bands  by  threes ;  and  again,  upon  summons  given, 
they  wheeled  about,  and  bore  their  hostile  spears  [on  one 
another.]32  Then  they  again  advance,  and  again  retreat  in 
their  opposite  grounds,  and  alternately  involve  intricate  circles 
within  circles,  and  call  up  the  representation  of  a  fight  in 
arms.  And  now  flying  they  expose  their  defenseless  backs ; 
now  in  hostile  manner  turn  their  darts  [on  each  other]  :  now, 
peace  being  made  up,  they  are  borne  along  together.  As  of 
old  in  lofty  Crete  was  a  labyrinth  famed  for  having  had  an 
alley  formed  by  dark  intricate  walls,  and  a  puzzling  maze 
with  a  thousand  avenues,  where  a  [single]  mistake,  unob- 
served, but  not  to  be  retraced,  frustrated  the  marks  for  guiding 
one  on  the  way  ;  in  just  such  course  the  sons  of  the  Trojans 
involve  their  motions,  and  with  intricate  movement  represent 
fighting  and  flying  in  sport;  like  dolphins,  that,  swimming 
through  the  watery  deep,  cut  the  Carpathian  or  Libyan  Sea, 
and  gambol  amid  the  waves.  This  manner  of  tilting,  and 
these  mock  fights,  Ascanius  first  renewed,  and  taught  the 
ancient  Latins  to  celebrate,  when  he  was  inclosing  Alba 
Longa  with  walls :  as  he  himself,  when  a  boy,  as  the  Trojan 
youth  with  him  [had  practiced  them],  so  the  Albans  taught 
their  posterity ;  hence,  in  after  times,  imperial  Rome  received 
them,  and  preserved  the  same  in  honor  of  her  ancestors :  and 
at  this  day  it  is  called  [the  game  of]  Troy,33  and  the  boys  [that 
perform  it],  the  Trojan  band. 

Thus  far  the  trials  of  skill  were  exhibited   [by  ^Eneas  in 

32  I  have  followed  Anthon.     The  student  will  find  an  excellent  ex- 
planation of  the  maneuvers  in  his  notes.     B. 

33  This  game,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  the  Lusus  Trojee,  is 
purely  of  Virgil's  own  invention,  he  had  no  hint  of  it  from  Homer.     This 
he  has  substituted  in  the  room  of  three  of  his,  the  wrestling,  the  single 
combat,  and  the  discus,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  a  very  judicious  modern, 
it  is  worth  all  those  three  in  Homer.     This  game  Virgil  added  to  please 
Augustus,  who  had  at  that  time  renewed  the  same.     Suetonius  tells  us, 
Trojae   ludum  edidit   (Augustus)  frequentissime,  majorum   mmorumve 
puerorum  delectu :  prisci  decorique  moris  existimans,  clarce  stirpis  indo- 
lem  sic  innotescere,  etc.  Suet,  in  August,  cap.  43.    Julius  Csesar  had  also 
exhibited  the  same  before,  as  we  learn  from  the  same  author,  Trojam 
lusit  turma  duplex,  majorum  minorumve  puerorum.     In  JuL  cap.  36. 


*.*.  , 

B.  V.  604 — 638. 

honor]  of  his  sanctified  sire.  Here  shifting  Fortune,  changing, 
first  altered  her  faith.  While  they  are  celebrating  the  anni- 
versary festival  at  the  tomb  with  various  games,  Saturnian 
Juno  dispatched  Iris  from  heaven  to  the  Trojan  fleet,  and  with 
the  fanning  winds  speeds  her  on  her  way,  forming  many  plots, 
and  having  not  yet  glutted  her  old  revenge.  The  virgin  god- 
dess accelerating  her  way,  seen  by  none,  amid  the  bow  with 
a  thousand  colors,  shoots  down  the  path  with  nimble  motion. 
She  descries  the  vast  concourse ;  then,  surveying  the  shore, 
sees  the  port  deserted,  and  the  fleet  deserted.  But  at  a  dis- 
tance the  Trojan  dames  apart  were  mourning  the  loss  of  An- 
chises  on  the  desolate  shore,  and  all  of  them  with  tears  in 
their  eyes  viewed  the  deep  ocean :  Ah !  that  so  many  shoals, 
such  a  length  of  sea  should  still  remain  for  us  after  all  our 
toils !  was  the  sole  complaint  of  all.  They  pray  for  a  city, 
are  sick  of  enduring  the  hardships  of  the  main.  Therefore 
she,  not  unpracticed  in  mischief,  throws  herself  into  the  midst 
of  them,  and  lays  aside  the  mien  and  vesture  of  a  goddess. 
She  assumes  the  figure  of  Beroe,  the  aged  wife  of  Thracian 
Doryclus,34  who  was  of  noble  birth,  and  once  had  renown,  and 
offspring.  And  thus  she  joins  in  discourse  with  the  Trojan 
matrons :  Ah  !  unhappy  we,  who  were  not  dragged  forth  to 
death  in  the  war  by  the  Grecian  host  under  our  native  walls  ! 
Ill-fated  race !  for  what  miserable  doom  does  fortune  reserve 
you  ?  The  seventh  summer  since  the  destruction  of  Troy  is 
already  rolled  away,  while  we,  having  measured  all  lands  and 
seas,  so  many  inhospitable  rocks  and  barbarous  climes,  are 
driven  about :  while  along  the  wide  ocean  we  pursue  an  ever- 
fleeing  Italy,  and  are  tossed  on  the  waves.  Here  are  the 
realms  of  his  brother  Eryx,  and  his  friend  Acestes :  who  pre- 
vents our  founding  walls,  and  giving  our  citizens  a  city  ?  Ah, 
my  country,  and  our  gods  in  vain  saved  from  the  enemy ! 
shall  a  city  never  more  arise  to  be  named  from  Troy  ?  Shall  I 
never  see  the  Hectorean  rivers,  Xanthus  and  Simois  ?  Nay, 
rather  come,  and  burn  with  me  our  cursed  ships.  For  in  my 
sleep  the  ghost  of  the  prophetess  Cassandra  seemed  to  pre- 
sent me  with  flaming  brands :  Here,  says  she,  seek  for  Troy, 
here  is  your  fixed  residence.  Now  is  the  time  for  action. 

34  Doryclus,  a  brother  of  Phineas,  king  of  Thrace,  and  the  husband  of 
Beroe,  whose  form  was  assumed  by  Iris,  when  she  advised  the  Trojan 
women  to  burn  the  fleet  of  ^Eneas  in  Sicily. 


216  -(ENEID.  B.  V.  639—673. 

Nor  let  there  be  delay  after  such  signs  from  heaven.  Lo ! 
here  are  four  altars  to  Neptune :  the  god  himself  supplies  us 
with  fire-brands,  and  with  courage  [for  the  attempt].  With 
these  words,  she  violently  snatches  the  destroying  fire,  and, 
lifting  up  her  right  hand  with  exerted  force,  waves  it  at  a 
distance,  throws  it.  Roused  are  the  minds  and  stunned  the 
hearts  of  the  Trojan  matrons.  Then  one  of  the  number, 
Pyrgo,3*  the  most  advanced  in  years,  the  royal  nurse  to 
Priam's  numerous  sons,  [said,]  Matrons,  this  is  not  Beroe 
whom  you  have  here,  it  is  not  she  from  Rhgeteum,  the  wife  of 
Doryclus :  mark  the  characters  of  divine  beauty,  eyes  bright 
and  sparkling ;  what  breath,  what  looks ;  or  the  accents  of 
her  voice,  or  her  gait  as  she  moves.  Myself  lately,  as  I  came 
hither,  left  Beroe  sick,  in  great  anguish  that  she  alone  was  cut 
off  from  such  a  solemnity,  and  was  not  to  pay  the  honors  due 
to  Anchises.  She  said.  But  the  matrons  first  began  to  view 
the  ships  with  malignant  eyes,  dubious  and  wavering  between 
their  wretched  fondness  for  the  present  land,  and  the  realms 
that  summoned  them  by  the  Fates;  when  on  equal  poised 
wings  the  goddess  mounted  into  the  sky,  and  in  her  flight  cut 
the  spacious  bow  beneath  the  clouds.  Then,  indeed,  con- 
founded at  the  prodigy,  and  driven  by  madness,  they  shriek 
out  together,  and  snatch  the  flame  from  the  inmost  hearths." 
Some  rifle  the  altars,  and  fling  the  boughs,  and  saplings,  and 
brands  together :  the  conflagration  rages  with  loose  reins 
amid  the  rowers'  seats,  and  oars,  and  painted  sterns  of  fir. 
Eumelus  conveys  the  tidings  to  Anchises'  tomb,  and  to  the 
benches  of  the  theater,  that  the  ships  were  burned ;  and  they 
themselves  behold  the  sparks  of  fire  flying  up  in  a  pitchy 
cloud.  And  first,  Ascanius,  as  joyous  he  led  the  cavalcade, 
just  as  he  was,  with  full  speed  rode  up  to  the  troubled  camp  ; 
nor  was  it  in  the  power  of  his  guardians,  half-dead  for  fear,  to 
check  him.  What  strange  frenzy  this  ?  whither,  he  cries,  ah ! 
my  wretched  countrywomen,  whither  would  you  now  ?  It  is 
not  the  enemy,  or  the  hostile  camp  of  the  Greeks,  but  your 
own  hopes  ye  burn.  Here  am  I,  your  own  Ascanius.  He 
threw  at  their  feet  the  empty  helmet,  which  he  wore  while 

33  Pyrgo,  the  nurse  of  Priam's  children,  who  followed  jEneas  in  his 
flight  from  Troy. 

36  i.  e.  from  the  neighboring  dwellings.  The  fire  on  the  altars  was 
not  sufficient  B. 


r    & 

B.  v.  6T4— 706.  ^ENEID.  217 

calling  forth  the  images  of  war  in  sport.  At  the  same  time 
./Eneas  and  the  bands  of  the  Trojans  came  up  in  haste.  But 
the  matrons  for  fear  fly  different  ways  up  and  down  the  shore, 
and  skulking  repair  to  the  woods  and  hollow  rocks  wherever 
there  are  any.  They  loathe  the  deed,  the  light,  and  penitent 
recognize  their  friends  ;  and  Juno,  is  dislodged  from  their 
breasts.  j  But  the  flames  and  conflagration  did  not  therefore 
abate  their  ungovernable  fury.  The  tow  lives  under  the 
moistened  boards,  disgorging  languid  smoke;  the  smothered 
fire  gradually  consumes  the  keel,  and  the  contagious  ruin 
spreads  through  the  whole  body  of  the  vessel.  Neither  the 
efforts  of  the  heroes,  nor  outpoured  streams,  avail.  Then 
pious  JEneas  tore  his  robe  from  his  shoulders,  and  invoked 
the  gods  to  his  aid,  and  stretched  out  his  hands :  Almighty 
Jove,  if  thou  dost  not  yet  abhor  all  the  Trojans  to  a  man,  if 
thy  ancient  goodness  regards  human  disasters  with  commiser- 
ation, grant  now,  O  father,  that  our  fleet  may  escape  from 
these  flames,  and  save  from  desolation  the  humbled  state  of 
the  Trojans.  Or,  to  complete  thy  vengeance,  hurl  me  down 
to  the  death  with  thy  vindictive  thunder,  if  I  so  deserve,  and 
crush  me  here  with  thy  right  hand.  Scarce  had  he  spoken 
these  words,  when  a  black  tempest  of  bursting  rain  rages  with 
uncommon  fury  :  both  hills"  and  valleys  quake  with  thunder ; 
the  shower  in  turbid  rain,  and  condensed  into  pitchy  dark- 
ness by  the  thick-beating  south  winds,  pours  down  from  the 
whole  atmosphere.  The  ships  are  filled  from  above  ;  the  half- 
burned  boards  are  drenched,  till  the  whole  smoke  is  extin- 
guished, and  all  the  ships,  with  the  loss  of  four,  are  saved  from 
the  pest. 

But  father  JEneas,  struck  with  the  bitter  misfortune,  turned 
his  anxious  thoughts  now  this  way,  now  that,  pondering  with 
himself  whether  she  should  settle  in  the  territories  of  Sicily, 
or,  regardless  of  the  Fates,  or  steer  his  course  to  the  Italian 
coast.  Then  aged  Nautes,38  whom  above  others  Tritonian 
Pallas  taught,  and  rendered  illustrious  for  deep  science,  gave 
forth  these  responses,  what  either  the  great  displeasure  of  the 

37  More  literally,  "  the  steeps  of  land."    Cf.  Symmach.  Epist.  vii.  69, 
"  ardua  clivi."     ApuL  Met.  L,  "  ardua  montium."     Varro,  R.  R.  ii.  10, 
"  montium  arduitatem."     Hieron.  Epist.  22,  "aspera  montium."    B. 

38  Nautes,  a  Trojan  soothsayer,  who  consoled  JEneas  when  his  fleet 
had  been  burned  in  Sicily.    He  was  the  progenitor  of  the  Nautii,  at  Rome, 
a  family  to  whom  the  Palladium  of  Troy  was  afterward  intrusted. 

10 


218  ^BNEID.  B.  y.  707—739. 

gods  portended,  or  what  the  series  of  the  Fates  required. 
And  thus,  solacing  ^Eneas,  he  begins :  Goddess-born,  let  us 
follow^he  Fates,  whether  they  invite  us  backward  or  forward  : 
come  what  will,  every  fortune  is  to  be  surmounted  by  pa- 
tience. You  have  Trojan  Acestes  of  divine  origin :  admit 
him  the  partner  of  your  counsels,  and  unite  yourself  to  him 
your  willing  friend  :  to  him  deliver  up  such  as  are  supernumer- 
ary, now  that  you  have  lost  some  ships  ;  choose  out  those  who 
are  sick  of  the  great  enterprise,  and  of  your  fortunes  ;  the  old 
with  length  of  years  oppressed,  and  the  matrons  fatigued  with 
the  voyage ;  select  the  feeble  part  of  your  company,  and  such 
as  dread  the  danger,  and,  since  they  are  tired  out,  let  them 
have  a  settlement  in  these  territories  :  they  shall  call  the  city 
Acesta39  by  a  licensed  name. 

Then  indeed  ^Eneas,  fired  by  these  words  of  his  aged  friend, 
is  distracted  in  his  mind  amid  a  thousand  cares.  Now  sable 
Night,  mounted  on  her  chariot  with  two  horses,  held  the  skies, 
when  the  form  of  his  father  Anchises,  gliding  down  from  the 
skies,  suddenly  seemed  to  pour  forth  these  words :  Son,  once 
dearer  to  me  than  life,  while  life  remained ;  my  son,  severely 
tried  by  the  fates  of  Troy  ;  hither  I  come  by  the  command  of 
Jove,  who  averted  the  fire  from  your  fleet,  and  at  length 
showed  pity  from  the  high  heaven.  Comply  with  the  excel- 
lent counsel  which  aged  Nautes  now  offers :  carry  with  you 
to  Italy  the  choice  of  the  youths,  the  stoutest  hearts.  In 
Latium  you  have  to  subdue  a  hardy  race,  rugged  in  manners. 
But  first,  my  son,  visit  Pluto's  infernal  mansions,  and,  in 
quest  of  an  interview  with  me,  cross  the  deep  floods  of  Aver- 
nus :  for  not  accursed  Tartarus,  nor  the  dreary  ghosts,  have 
me  in  their  possession :  but  I  inhabit  the  delightful  seats  of 
the  blest,  and  Elysium.40  Hither  the  chaste  Sibyl  shall  con- 
duct thee  after  shedding  profusely  the  blood  of  black  victims. 
Then  you  shall  learn  your  whole  progeny,  and  what  walls  are 
assigned  to  you.  And  now  farewell :  humid  Night  wheels 
about  her  mid  course,41  and  the  dawning  light,  which  fiercely 
summons  me  away,  hath  breathed  upon  me  with  panting  steeds. 

39  Acesta,  or  Segesta,  a  city  of  Sicily,  built  by  JEneas  in  honor  of 
king  Acestes. 

40  Elysium,  a  place  in  the  infernal  regions,  where,  according  to  the 
mythology  of  the  ancients,  the  souls  of  the  virtuous  were  placed  after 
death.     The  Elysian  fields,  according  to  Virgil,  were  situated  in  Italy. 

41  The  reader  will  call  to  mind  the  words  of  the  ghost  in  "  Hamlet."    B. 


B.  v.  740— 7U.  ^ENEID.  219 

He  said ;  and  vanished  like  smoke  into  the  fleeting  air. 
Whither  so  precipitant  ?  says  then  ^Eneas  ;  whither  dost  thou 
•whirl  away  ?  whom  fliest  thou  ?  or  who  debars  me  from  my 
embraces  ?  So  saying,  he  awakes  the  embers  and  dormant  fire, 
and  suppliant  pays  veneration  to  his  Trojan  domestic  god,  and 
the  shine  of  hoary  Vesta,  with  a  holy  cake  and  full  censer. 
Forthwith  he  calls  his  followers,  and  first  of  all  Acestes,  and 
informs  them  of  Jove's  command,  and  the  instructions  of  hia 
beloved  sire,  and  of  the  present  settled  purpose  of  his  soul. 
No  obstruction  is  given  to  his  plans ;  nor  is  Acestes  averse 
to  the  proposals  made.  They  enroll42  the  matrons  for  the  city, 
and  set  on  shore  as  many  of  the  people  as  were  willing,  souls 
that  had  no  desire  of  high  renown.  Themselves  renew  the 
benches,  and  repair  the  timbers  half  consumed  by  the  flames; 
fit  oars  and  cables  to  the  ships ;  in  number  small,  but  of  ani- 
mated valor  for  war. 

Meanwhile  yEneas  marked  ouk  a  city  with  the  plow,  and 
assigns  the  houses  by  lot :  here  he  orders  a  [second]  Ilium 
to  arise,  and  these  places  to  be  called  after  those  of  Troy. 
Trojan  Acestes  rejoices  in  his  kingdom  ;  institutes  a  court  of 
justice ;  and  having  assembled  his  senators,  dispenses  laws. 
Then  on  the  top  of  Mount  Eryx  a  temple  approaching  the 
stars  is  raised  to  Idalian  Venus  ;4S  and  a  priest  is  assigned  to 
the  tomb  of  Anchises,  with  a  grove  hallowed  far  and  wide. 
And  now  the  whole  people  had  kept  the  festival  for  nine  clays, 
and  sacrifices  had  been  offered  on  the  altars,  peaceful  breezes 
have  smoothed  the  seas,  and  the  south  wind  in  repeated  gales 
invites  into  the  deep.  Loud  lamentations  along  the  winding 
shores  arise :  in  mutual  embraces  they  linger  out  both  night 
and  day.  Even  the  matrons,  and  those  to  whom  the  face  of  the 
sea  lately  seemed  horrid,  and  its  divinity44  intolerably  severe, 
would  willingly  go,  and  submit  to  all  the  toil  of  the  voyage ; 
whom  good  ^Eneas  solaces  in  friendly  terms,  and,  weeping, 
commends  to  his  kinsman  Acestes.  Then  he  orders  to  sacri- 
fice to  Eryx  three  calves,  and  a  female  lamb  to  the  tempests, 
and  to  weigh  anchor  after  the  due  rites  were  performed.  He 
himself,  having  his  head  bound  with  a  trim  garland  of  olive 

<  J  "  Transcribere"  is  a  word  properly  used  of  colonizing.     See  Servius 
C£  Seneca,  Episc.  4,  "  te  in  viros  philosophia  transcripseris."    B. 
43  So  called  from  Mount  Ida 
"  But  "nomen"  seems  simpler.     See  Anthon.     B. 


220  JENEID.  B.  v.  775—809. 

leaves,  standing  on  the  extremity  of  the  prow,  holds  the  cup, 
and  casts  forth  the  entrails  on  the  briny  waves,  and  pours  the 
limpid  wine.  A  wind  arising  from  the  stern  accompanies  them 
in  their  course.  The  crew,  with  emulous  vigor,  lash  the  sea 
and  brush  its  smooth  surface. 

Meanwhile  Venus,  harassed  with  cares,  addresses  Neptune, 
and  pours  forth  these  complaints  from  her  breast :  The  heavy 
resentment  and  insatiable  passion  of  Juno  compel  me,  0  Nep- 
tune, to  descend  to  all  entreaties ;  Juno,  whom  neither  length 
of  time  or  any  piety  softens ;  and  who  is  not  quelled  and  sub- 
dued even  by  Jove's  imperial  sway,  or  by  the  Fates.  It  is  not 
enough  for  her  to  have  effaced  the  city  from  among  the  Phryg- 
ian race  by  her  unhallowed  hate,  nor  to  have  dragged  its  relics 
through  all  sorts  of  suffering ;  she  persecutes  the  ashes  and 
bones  of  ruined  Troy.  The  causes  of  such  furious  resentment 
are  to  her  best  known.  Yourself  can  witness  for  me  what  a 
heaving  tempest  she  suddenly  raised  of  late  on  the  Libyan 
waves.  The  whole  sea  she  blended  in  confusion  with  the  sky, 
vainly  relying  on  ^Eolus'  storms;  this  presuming  [even]  in 
your  realms.  Lo  also  (O  wickedness !)  by  acting  upon  the 
Trojan  matrons,  she  hath  shamefully  burned  the  ships,  and 
forced  their  friends,  now  that  they  have  lost  their  fleet,  to 
abandon  them  in  an  unknown  land.  As  to  what  remains,  may 
they  be  allowed,  I  pray,  to  sail  over  the  waves  secure  by  thy 
protection :  may  they  be  allowed  to  reach  Laurentian  Tiber  ;*6 
if  I  ask  what  may  be  granted,  if  the  Destinies  assign  those  set- 
tlements. Then  the  Saturnian  ruler  of  the  deep  ocean  thus 
replied :  Cytherea,"  it  is  perfectly  just  that  you  confide  in  my 
realms,  whence  you  derive  your  birth  :  besides,  I  have  a  just 
claim ;  [for]  often  have  I  checked  the  furious  rage  and  mad- 
dening tumult  of  sea  and  sky.  Nor  was  I  less  careful  of  your 
./Eneas  on  earth  (I  call  Xanthus  and  Simois  to  witness). 
When  Achilles,  pursuing  the  breathless  troops  of  Troy,  dashed 
them  against  their  walls,  gave  many  thousands  to  death,  and 
the  choked  rivers  groaned,  and  Xanthus  could  not  find  his 
way,  nor  disembogue  himself  into  the  sea ;  then  in  a  hollow 
cloud  I  snatched  away  ^Eneas,  while  encountering  the  mighty 
Achilles  with  strength  and  gods  unequal ;  though  I  was  de- 

43  Laurentian  Tiber,  so  called  from  Laurentum  (Paterno),  the  capital 
of  Latium  in  the  reign  of  Latinus. 
48  Cytherea.     A  surname  of  Venus. 


B.  v.  810—842.  JENEID.  221 

sirous  of  overthrowing  from  the  lowest  foundation  the  walls 
of  perjured  Troy,  reared  by  my  hands.  And  still  I  am  of  the 
same  disposition  :  banish  your  fear  ;  he  shall  arrive  safe  at  the 
port  of  Avernus,  which  you  desire.  One  only,  lost  in  the  deep, 
shall  he  seek  for  :  one  lite  shall  be  given  for  many.47  The  sire, 
having  by  these  words  soothed  and  cheered  the  heart  of  the 
goddess,  yokes  his  steeds  to  his  golden  car,  puts  the  foaming 
bit  into  their  fierce  mouths,  and  throws  out  all  the  reins. 
Along  the  surface  of  the  seas  he  nimbly  glides  in  his  azure 
car.  The  waves  subside,  and  the  swelling  ocean  smooths  its 
liquid  pavement  under  the  thundering  axle  :  the  clouds  fly  off 
the  face  of  the  expanded  sky.  Then  [appear]  the  various  forms 
of  his  retinue,  unwieldy  whales,48  and  the  aged  train  of  Glaucus, 
and  Palemon,"  Ino's  son,  the  swift  Tritons,  and  the  whole 
band  of  Phorcus.  On  the  left  are  Thetis,  Melite,  and  the  vir- 
gin Panopse,  Nesaee,  Spio,  Thalia,  and  Cymodoce.  Upon  this, 
soft  joys  in  their  turn  diffuse  themselves  through  the  anxious 
soul  of  father  JEneas.  Forthwith  he  orders  all  the  masts  to  be 
set  up,  and  the  yards  to  be  stretched  along  the  sails.  At  once 
they  all  tacked  together,  and  together  let  go  sometimes  the 
left-hand  sheets,  sometimes  the  right  :  at  onee  they  turn  and 
turn  back  the  lofty  end  of  the  sail  yards  :  friendly  gales  waft 
the  fleet  forward.  Palinurus,  the  master-pilot,  led  the  closely- 
united  squadron  :  toward  him  the  rest  were  ordered  to  steer 
their  course. 

And  now  the  dewy  night  had  almost  reached  the  middle  of 
her  course  ;  the  weary  sailors,  stretched  along  the  hard  benches 
under  the  oars,  relaxed  their  limbs*0  in  peaceful  repose  ;  when 
the  god  of  sleep,  gliding  down  from  the  ethereal  stars,  parted 
the  dusky  air,  and  dispelled  the  shades  ;  to  you,  O  Palinurus, 
directing  his  course,  visiting  you,  though  innocent,  with  dismal 
dreams  :  and  the  god  took  his  seat  on  the  lofty  stern,  in  the 
similitude  of  Phorbas,"  and  poured  forth  these  'words  from 


47  i.  e.  Palinurus.  Cf.  Eur.  Electr.  1026,  lureive  TTO^AUV  fiiav  imep.  B. 

48  i.  e.  fish  of  large  size.     Nonius,  v.  "cetariij"  remarks  ="cete  in 
mari  majora  sunt  piscium  genera."    B. 

49  Palemon,  the  same  with  Melicerta  and  Portumnus.     See  note  59, 
Georgics,  B.  I.  page  46.     Tritons,  etc.,  sea-deities.     The  name  Tritons 
wag  generally  applied  to  those  only  who  were  half  men  and  half  fishes. 

50  Cf.  Homer's  /Mmpelije  vxvo?,  Od.  *.  342.     Orph.  in  Somn.  5.     B. 

51  Phorbas,  a  son  of  Priam,  killed  in  the  Trojan  war  by  Menelaus. 
The  god  Somnus,  by  assuming  his  shape,  deceived  Palinurus,  and  threw 
him  into  the  sea. 


222  ^ENEID.  B.  T.  843—871. 

his  lips :  Palinurus,  son  of  las'ius,  the  seas  themselves  cany 
forward  the  fleet ;  the  gales  blow  fair  and  steady,  the  hour  for 
rest  is  given.  Recline  your  head,  and  steal  your  weary  eyes 
from  labor.  Myself  awhile  will  discharge  your  duty.  To 
whom  Palinurus,  with  difficulty  lifting  up  his  eyes,  answers : 
Do  you  then  bid  me  be  a  stranger  to  the  aspect  of  the  calm 
sea  and  its  quiet  waves  ?  Shall  I  confide  in  this  extraordinary 
apparition  ?  Why  should  I  trust  /Eneas  to  the  mercy  of  the 
fallacious  winds,*2  after  having  been  so  often  deceived  by  the 
treacherous  aspect  of  a  serene  sky  ?  These  words  he  uttered, 
while  fixed  and  clinging  he  did  not  part  with  the  rudder, 
and  held  his  eyes  directed  to  the  stars ;  when, .  lo !  the  god 
shakes  over  both  his  temples  a  branch  drenched  in  the  dew  of 
Lethe,  and  impregnated  with  soporific  Stygian  influence ;  and, 
while  he  is  struggling  against  sleep,  dissolves  his  swimming 
eyes.  Scarcely  had  unexpected  slumber  begun  to  relax  his 
limbs,  when  the  god,  leaning  on  him,  with  part  of  the  stern 
broke  off,  together  with  the  helm,  plunged  him  headlong  into 
the  limpid  waves,  often  calling  on  his  friends  in  vain :  taking 
flight,  raised  himself  on  his  wings  aloft  into  the  thin  air. 
Meanwhile,  the  fleet  runs  its  watery  course  on  the  plain  with 
equal  security,  and  fearless  is  conducted  by  father  Neptune's 
promises.  And  now  wafted  forward,  it  was  even  coming  up  to 
the  rocks  of  the  Sirens,"  once  of  difficult  access,  and  white 
with  the  bones64  of  many  (at  that  time  the  hoarse  rocks  re- 
sounded far  by  the  continual  buffeting  of  the  briny  waves) ; 
when  father  JEneas  perceived  the  fluctuating  galley  to  reel, 
having  lost  its  pilot ;  and  he  himself  steered  her  through  the 
darkened  waves,  deeply  affected  and  wounded  in  his  soul  for 
the  misfortune  of  his  friend.  Ah,  Palinurus  [says  he],  who 
has  too  much  confided  in  the  fair  aspect  of  the  skies  and  sea  ! 
naked  wilt  thou  lie  on  unknown  sands  ! 

52  On  this  general  use  of  "  austri,"  cf.  ^En.  I  51,  536 ;  ii.  304 ;  v. 
396,  etc.    B. 

53  Sirens ;  these  were  three  fabulous  sisters  who  usually  resided  in  a 
small  island  near  Cape  Pelorus  in  Sicily,  and  by  their  melodious  voices 
decoyed  mariners  to  their  destruction  on  the  fatal  coast.     Ulysses  hav- 
ing, by  an  artifice,  escaped  their  fascination,  the  disappointed  Sirens 
threw  themselves  into  the  sea.  and  perished. 

54  Statius  Silv.  ii.  7,  65,  "  albos  ossibus  Italis  Philippos."    Senec.  (Ed. 
914.    C£  Pric.  on  Apul  p.  436.     B. 


B.  vi.  1—21.  ^ENEID.  223 


BOOK  VL 

In  the  Sixtli  Book,  JSneas,  on  reaching  the  coast  of  Italy,  visits,  as  he  had 
been  forewarned,  the  Sibyl  of  Cumae,  who  attends  him  in  his  descent  into 
the  infernal  regions,  and  conducts  him  to  his  father  Anchises,  from  whom 
he  learns  the  fate  that  awaited  him  and  his  descendants  the  Romans. 
The  book  closes  with  the  well-known  beautiful  panegyric  on  the  younger 
Marcellus,  who  was  prematurely  cut  off  in  the  flower  of  his  youth. 

THUS  he  speaks  with  tears,  and  gives  his  ship  full  sail,1 
and  at  length  he  reaches  the  Euboean  coast2  of  Cumae;  They 
turn  their  prows  out  to  the  sea:  then  the  anchor  with  its  te- 
nacious fluke  moored  the  ships,  and  the  bending  sterns  fringe* 
the  margin  of  the  shore.  The  youthful  crew  spring  forth 
with  ardor  on  the  Hesperian  strand :  some  seek  for  the  seeds 
of  fire  latent  in  the  veins  of  flint ;  some  plunder  the  copses, 
the  close  retreat  of  wild  beasts,  and  point  out  rivers  newly 
discovered.  But  the  pious  ./Eneas  repairs  to  the  towers  over 
which  Apollo  presides  on  high,  and  to  the  spacious  cave,  the 
cell  of  the  Sibyl  awful  at  a  distance  ;  into  whom  the  prophetic 
god  of  Delos  breathes  an  enlarged  mind  and  spirit,  and  dis- 
closes to  her  the  future.  Now  they  enter  Diana's  groves, 
and  [Apollo's]  golden  roofs.  Daedalus,4  as  is  famed,  flying 
the  realms  of  Minos,  adventuring  to  trust  himself  to  the  sky 
on  nimble  wings,  sailed  through  an  untried  path  to  the  cold 
regions  of  the  north,  and  at  length  gently  alighted  on  the 
tower  of  Chalcis.  Having  landed  first  on  those  coasts,  to  thee, 
O  Phoebus,  he  consecrated  his  hoary  wings,  and  reared  a 
spacious  temple.  On  the  gates  the  death  of  Androgeos*  [was 
represented] :  then  the  Athenians,  doomed,  as  an  atonement 

1  Literally,  "gives  a  loose  rein."  Cf.  Ritterh.  on  Oppian,  Hal.  229.    B. 

2  Euboean  coast,  applied  to  Cumse  in  Italy,  as  having  been  built  by  a 
colony  from  Chalcis,  a  city  of  Eubcea  (Negropont),  an  island  in  the 
Archipelago. 

3  i.  e.  with  the  "  aplustria."    See  Anthon.    B. 

4  Dajdalus,  a  most  ingenious  artist  of  Athens,  who,  with  his  son  Icarus, 
fled,  by  the  help  of  wings,  from  Crete,  to  escape  the  resentment  of  Minos ; 
but  Icarus  fell  into  that  part  of  the  ^Egean  Sea  which  bears  his  name. 

5  Androgeos,  the  son  of  Minos  and  Pasiphae,  famous  for  his  skill  in 
wrestling,  was  put  to  death  by  JEgeus,  king  of  Athens,  who  became 
jealous  of  him ;  to  revenge  his  death,  Minos  made  war  upon  the  Athe- 
nians, and  at  last  granted  them  peace,  on  condition  that  they  sent  yearly 
seven  youths  and  seven  virgins,  from  Athens  to  Crete,  to  be  devoured 
by  the  Minotaur,  a  fabulous  monster,  half  a  man  and  half  a  bull 


224  ^ENEID.  B.  vi.  22—52. 

(a  piteous  case  !)  to  pay  yearly  the  bodies  of  their  children  by 
sevens  :  there  stands  the  urn  whence  the  lots  were  drawn.  In 
counterview  answers  the  land  of  Crete  raised  above  sea ;  here 
Pasiphae's  fierce  passion  for  the  bull  is  seen,  and  she  [is  intro- 
duced] by  artifice  humbled  [to  his  embrace],  with  the  Minotaur, 
that  mingled  birth,  and  two-formed  offsprings,  monuments  of 
execrable  lust.  Here  [are  seen]  the  labored  work  of  the  Laby- 
rinth, and  the  inextricable  mazes.  But  Daedalus,  pitying  the 
violent  love  of  queen  [Ariadne],  unravels  [to  Theseus]8  the  in- 
tricacies and  windings  of  the  structure,  himself  guiding  his  dark 
mazy  steps  by  a  thread.  You  too,  O  Icarus,  should  have  borne  a 
considerable  part  in  that  great  work,  had  [thy  father's]  grief 
permitted.  Twice  he  essayed  to  figure  the  disastrous  story  in 
gold ;  twice  the  parent's  hand  misgave  him.  And  now  [the 
Trojans]  would  survey  the  whole  work  in  order,  were  not 
Achates,  who  had  been  sent  on,  just  at  hand,  and  with  him  the 
priestess  of  Phoebus  and  Diana,  Deiphobe,7  Glaucus'  daughter, 
who  thus  bespeaks  the  king :  This  hour  requires  not  such 
amusements.  At  present  it  will  be  more  suitable  to  sacrifice 
seven  bullocks  from  a  herd  unyoked,  and  as  many  chosen  ewes, 
with  usual  rites.  The  priestess  having  thus  addressed  ^Eneas 
(nor  are  they  backward  to  obey  her  sacred  orders),  (alls  the 
Trojans  into  the  lofty  temple.  The  huge  side  of  an  Eubcean 
rock  is  cut  into  a  cave,  whither  a  hundred  broad  avenues 
lead,  a  hundred  doors ;  whence  rush  forth  as  many  voices, 
the  responses  of  the  Sibyl.  They  had  come  to  the  threshold,8 
when  thus  the  virgin  exclaims :  Now  is  the  time  to  consult 
your  fate  :  the  god,  lo  the  god  !  While  thus  before  the  gate 
she  speaks,  on  a  sudden  her  looks  change,  her  color  comes 
and  goes,  her  locks  are  disheveled,  her  breast  heaves,  and  her 
fierce  heart  swells  with  enthusiastic  rage ;  she  appears  in  a 
larger  form,  her  voice  speaking  her  not  a  mortal,  now  that 
she  is  inspired  with  the  nearer  influence  of  the  god.  Do  you 
delay,9  Trojan  ^Eneas,  she  says,  do  you  delay  with  thy  vows 

6  Theseus,  king  of  Athens,  and  son  of  ^Egeus,  was,  next  to  Hercules, 
the  most  celebrated  of  the  heroes  of  antiquity.     He  slew  the  Minotaur, 
and  escaped  from  the  Labyrinth  of  Crete,  by  means  of  a  clue  of  thread 
given  to  him  by  Ariadne,  daughter  of  Minos. 

7  Deiphobe,  the  Cumasan  Sibyl,  daughter  of  Glaucus,  who  conducted 
^Eneas  into  the  infernal  regions. 

8  i  «.  to  the  entrance  nearest  Cumse.     B. 

9  On  this  construction,  see  Markland  on  Stat.  Silv.  i.  2,  195.     B. 


B.  vi.  52 — 89.  ^ENEID.  225 

and  prayers  ?  [Instantly  begin] :  for  not  till  then  shall  the 
ample  gates  of  this  awe-stricken  mansion  unfold  to  the  view. 
And  having  thus  said,  she  ceased.  Chill  horror  ran  thrilling 
cold  through  the  bones  of  the  Trojans  ;  and  their  king  poured 
forth  these  prayers  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart :  Apollo,  who 
hast  ever  pitied  the  troubles  of  Troy,  who  guidedst  the  Trojan 
darts  and  the  hand  of  Paris  to  the  body  of  Achilles ;  under 
thy  conduct  I  have  entered  so  many  seas  encompassing  coun- 
tries, and  the  Massylian  nations  far  remote,  and  regions  vast 
stretched  in  front  by  the  Syrtes.  Now,  at  length,  we  grasp  of 
the  coast  of  Italy  that  flies  from  us.  Let  it  suffice  that  the 
fortune  of  Troy  has  persecuted  us  thus  far.  Now  it  is  just  that 
you  too  spare  the  Trojan  race,  ye  gods  and  goddesses,  all, 
to  whom  Ilium  and  the  high  renown  of  Dardania  were  obnox- 
ious. And  thou,  too,  most  holy  prophetess,  skilled  in  futur- 
ity, grant  (I  ask  no  realms  but  what  are  destined  to  me  by 
fate)  that  the  Trojans,  their  wandering  gods,  and  the  perse- 
cuted deities  of  Troy,  may  settle  in  Latium.  Then  will  I  ap- 
point to  Phoebus  and  Diana  a  temple  of  solid  marble,  and  festal 
days,  called  by  the  name  of  Apollo.  Thee  too  a  spacious  sanc- 
tuary awaits  in  our  realms ;  for  there,  benignant  one,  I  will  de- 
posit thy  oracles,  and  the  secret  fates  declared  to  my  nation, 
and  will  consecrate  chosen  men.  Only  commit  not  thy  verses 
to  leaves,  lest  they  fly  about  in  disorder,  the  sport  of  the  rapid 
winds :  I  beg  you  yourself  will  pronounce  them.  He  ended 
his  address. 

Put  the  prophetess,  as  yet  not  suffering  the  influence  of 
Phoebus,  raves  with  wild  outrage  in  the  cave,  struggling  if 
possible  to  disburden  her  soul  of  the  mighty  god :  so  much 
the  more  he  wearies  her  foaming  lips,  subduing  her  ferocious 
heart,  and,  by  bearing  down  her  opposition,  molds  her  to  his 
will.  And  now  the  hundred  spacious  gates  of  the  abode  were 
opened  of  their  own  accord,  and  pour  forth  the  responses  of 
the  prophetess  into  the  open  air :  O  thou  whcv  hast  at  length 
overpassed  the  vast  perils  of  the  ocean  !  yet  more  afflicting 
trials  by  land  await  thee.  The  Trojans  shall  come  to  the 
realms  of  Lavinium  (dismiss  that  concern  from  thy  breast), 
but  they  shall  wish  too  they  had  never  come.  Wars,  horrid 
wars,  I  foresee,  and  Tiber  foaming  with  a  deluge  of  blood. 
Nor  Simois  nor  Xanthus,  nor  Grecian  camps,  shall  be  wanting 
to  you  there.  Another  Achilles  is  prepared  in  Latium :  he 

10* 


226  JENEID.  B.  vi.  90—121. 

too  the  son  of  a  goddess.  Nor  shall  Juno,  added  to  the  Tro- 
jans [as  their  scourge],  leave  them  wherever  they  are ;  while 
in  your  distress,  which  of  the  Italian  states,  which  of  its  cities, 
shall  you  not  humbly  supplicate  for  aid  ?  Once  more  shall  a 
consort,  a  hostess,  once  more  shall  a  foreign  match,  be  the 
cause  of  so  great  calamity  to  the  Trojans.  Yield  not  under 
your  sufferings,  but  encounter  them  with  greater  boldness 
than  your  fortune  shall  permit.10  What  you  least  expect, 
your  first  means  of  deliverance  shall  be  unfolded  from  a 
Grecian  city.  Thus  from  her  holy  cell  the  Camaean  Sibyl 
delivers  her  mysterious  oracles,  and,  wrapping  up  truth  in 
obscurity,'  bellows  in  her  cave :  Such  reins  Apollo  shakes 
over  her  as  she  rages,  and  deep  in  her  breast  he  plies  the 
goads. 

As  soon  as  her  fury  ceased,  and  her  raving  tongue  was  silent, 
the  hero  ^Eneas  begins :  To  me,  O  virgin,  no  shape  of  sufferings 
can  arise  new  or  unexpected ;  I  have  anticipated  all  things, 
and  acted  them  over  beforehand  in  my  mind.  My  sole  re- 
quest is  (since  here  the  gate  of  the  infernal  king  is  said  to 
be,  and  the  darksome  lake  [formed]  from  the  overflowing 
Acheron),  that  it  may  be  my  lot  to  come  into  the  sight  and 
presence  of  my  dear  father ;  that  you  would  show  the  way, 
and  open  to  me  the  sacred  portals.  On  these  shoulders  I 
rescued  him,  through  flames  and.  a  thousand  darts  pursuing, 
and  saved  him  from  the  midst  of  the  enemy.  He  accompanied 
my  path,  attended  me  in  all  my  voyages,  and,  though  infirm, 
bore  all  the  terrors  both  of  the  sea  and  sky,  beyond  the  power 
and  condition  of  old  age.  Nay  more,  he  it  was  who  earnestly 
requested  and  enjoined  me  to  come  to  thee  a  suppliant,  and 
visit  thy  temple.  Benignant  one,  pity,  I  pray,  the  son  and  the 
sire ;  for  thou  canst  do  all  things ;  nor  hath  Hecate  in  vain 
given  thee  charge  of  the  Avernian  groves.  If  Orpheus  had 
power  to  recall  his  consort's  ghost,  relying  on  his  Thracian 
harp  and  harmonious  strings;  if  Pollux11  redeemed  his  brother 

10  I  prefer  "  quam,"  with  Wagner,  notwithstanding  Anthon's  defense 
of  "  qua."    B. 

11  Pollux  and  Castor  were  twin  brothers:  according  to  ancient  my- 
thology, Pollux  was  the  son  of  Jupiter,  and  so  tenderly  attached  to  his 
brother  Castor,  that  he  entreated  Jupite'r  he  might  share  his  immortality, 
which  being  granted,  they  alternately  lived  and  died  every  day.     They 
were  made  constellations  under  the  name  of  Gemini,  which  never  ap- 
pear together,  but  when  one  rises  the  other  sets. 


B.  vi.  122-160.  JENEID.  227 

by  alternate  death,  and  goes  and  comes  this  way  so  often  :  [I 
hope  I  may  also  be  allowed  to  go  and  return :]  why  need  I 
mention  Theseus,  or  great  Alcides  ?  I  too  derive  my  birth 
from  Jove  supreme. 

In  such  terms  he  prayed,  and  held  the  altar,  when  thus  the 
prophetess  began  to  speak  :  Offspring  of  the  gods,  thou  Tro- 
jan son  of  Anchises,  easy  is  the  path  that  leads  down  to  hell ; 
grim  Pluto's  gate  stands  open  night  and  day ;  but  to  retrace 
one's  steps,  and  escape  to  the  upper  regions,  this  is  a  work,  this 
is  a  task.  Some  few,  whom  favoring  Jove  loved,  or  illustri- 
ous virtue  advanced  to  heaven,  the  sons  of  the  gods,  have 
effected  it.  Woods  cover  all  the  intervening  space,  and  Co- 
cytus  gliding  with  his  black  winding  flood  surrounds  it.  But 
if  your  soul  be  possessed  with  so  strong  a  passion,  so  ardent  a 
desire,  twice  to  swim  the  Stygian  lake,  twice  to  visit  a  gloomy 
Tartarus,  and  you  will  needs  fondly  pursue  the  desperate  enter- 
prise, learn  what  first  is  to  be  done.  On  a  tree  of  deep  shade 
there  lies  concealed  a  bough,  with  leaves  and  limber  twigs  of 
gold,  pronounced  sacred  to  infernal  Juno ;  this  the  whole 
grove  covers,  and  shades  in  dark  valleys  inclose.  But  to  none 
is  it  given  to  enter  the  hidden  recesses  of  the  earth,  till  from 
the  tree  he  pluck  the  bough  with  its  golden  locks.  Fair  Pros- 
erpine hath  ordained  this  to  be  presented  to  her  as  her  pe- 
culiar present.  When  the  first  is  torn  off,  a  second  of  gold 
soon  succeeds;  and  a  twig  shoots  forth  leaves  of  the  same 
metal.  Therefore,  search  out  for  it  on  high  with  thine  eyes, 
and,  when  found,  pluck  it  with  the  hand  in  a  proper  manner ; 
for,  if  the  Fates  invite  you,  itself  will  come  away  willing  and 
easy ;  otherwise,  you  will  not  fee  able  to  master  it  by  any 
strength,  or  to  lop  it  off  by  the  stubborn  steel.  Besides,  the 
body  of  your  friend  lies  breathless  (whereof  you,  alas  !  are  not 
aware),  and  pollutes  the  whole  fleet  with  death,  while  you  are 
seeking  counsel,  and  hang  lingering  at  my  gate.  First  convey 
him  to  his  place  of  rest,  and  bury  him  in  the  grave.  Bring 
black  cattle ;  let  these  first  be  the  sacrifices  of  expiation.  So 
at  length  you  shall  have  a  view  of  the  Stygian  groves,  realms 
inaccessible  to  the  living.  She  said,  and  closing  her  lips,  was 
silent. 

^Eneas,  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground  with  sorrowing  looks, 
takes  his  way,  leaving  the  cave,  and  muses  the  dark  event  in 
his  mind ;  whom  faithful  Achates  accompanies,  and  steps  on 


228  --ENEID.  B.  vi.  161—197. 

with  equal  concern.  Many  doubts  they  started  between  them 
in  the  variety  of  their  conversation  ;  who  was  the  lifeless  friend 
designed  by  the  prophetess,  what  corpse  was  to  be  interred. 
And  as  they  caine,  they  saw  Misenus12  on  the  dry  beach, 
slain  by  an  unworthy  death ;  Misenus,  son  of  JEolus,  whom 
none  excelled  in  rousing  warriors  by  the  brazen  trump,  and 
kindling  the  rage  of  war  by  its  blast  He  had  been  the  com- 
panion of  great  Hector,  and  about  Hector  he  fought,  distin- 
guished both  for  the  clarion  and  spear.  After  victorious 
Achilles  had  bereaved  Hector  of  life,  the  valiant  hero  asso- 
ciated with  Dardanian  ./Eneas,  following  no  inferior  chief.  But, 
at  that  time,  while  madly  presumptuous  he  makes  the  seas  re- 
sound with  his  hollow  trump,  and  with  bold  notes  challenges 
the  gods  to  a  trial  of  skill,  Triton,  jealous  (if  the  story  be 
worthy  of  credit),  having  inveigled  him  between  two  rocks, 
had  overwhelmed  him  in  the  foaming  billows.  Therefore  all 
murmured  their  lamentations  around  him  with  loud  noise, 
especially  pious  ^Eneas ;  then  forthwith  weeping  they  set  about 
the  Sibyl's  orders,  and  are  emulous  to  heap  up  the  altar  of  the 
funeral  pile  with  trees,  and  raise  it  toward  heaven.  They  re- 
pair to  an  ancient  wood,  the  deep  lairs  of  the  savage  kind  : 
down  drop  the  firs  :  the  holm  crashes,  felled  by  the  axes  ;  and 
the  ashen  logs  and  yielding  oak  are  cleft  by  wedges ;  down  from 
the  mountains  they  roll  the  huge  wild  ashes.  ^Eneas,  too, 
chief  amid  these  labors,  animates  .his  followers,  and  is  equip- 
ped with  like  implements. 

Meanwhile,  he  thus  ruminates  in  his  distressed  breast,  sur- 
veying the  spacious  wood,  and  thus  prays  aloud :  O  if  that 
golden  branch  on  the  tree  now  present  itself  to  our  view  amid 
this  ample  forest ;  since,  Misenus,"  all  that  the  prophetess  de- 
clared of  thee  is  true,  alas !  too  true.  Scarcely  had  he  spoken 
these  words,  when  it  chanced  that  two  pigeons,  in  their  airy 
flight,  cnm '  directly  into  the  hero's  view,  and  alighted  on  the 
verdant  ground.  Then  the  mighty  hero  knows  his  mother's 
birds,  and  rejoicing,  prays  :  Oh  !  be  the  guides  of  the  way,  if 
any  way  there  is,  and  steer  your  course  through  the  air  into 
the  groves,  where  the  precious  branch  overshades  the  fertile 
soil.  And  thou,  my  goddess-mother,  oh  be  not  wanting  to  me 
in  this  my  perplexity  !  Thus  having  said,  he  paused,  ob- 

11  Misenus,  a  son  of  ^Eolus,  the  trumpeter  of  Hector,  after  whese  death 
he  followed  JEneas  to  Italy,  and  was  drowned  on  the  coast  of  Campania. 


B.  VI.  198—232.  J3NEID.  229 

serving  what  indications  they  offer,  whither  they  bend  their 
way.  They,  feeding  and  flying  by  turns,  advanced  before  only 
as  far  as  the  eyes  of  the  followers  could  trace  them  with  their 
ken.  Then,  having  come  to  the  mouth  of  noisome13  Avernus, 
they  mount  up  swiftly,  and,  gliding  through  the  clear  air,  both 
alight  on  the  wished-for  place,  on  that  tree  from  whence  the 
gleam  of  the  gold,  of  different  hue,  shone  through  the  boughs. 
As  in  the  woods  the  mistletoe,  which  springs  not  from  the  tree 
from  whence  it  grows,  is  wont  to  bloom  with  new  leaves  in  the 
cold  of  winter,  and  to  twine  around  the  tapering  trunk  with  its 
yellow  offspring  ;  such  was  the  appearance  of  the  gold  sprout- 
ing forth  on  the  shady  holm  :  in  like  manner  the  metallic  leaf 
tinkled  with  the  gentle  gale.  Forthwith  ^Eneas  grasps,  and 
eagerly  tears  off  the  lingering  branch,  and  bears  it  to  the  grotto 
of  the  prophetic  Sibyl. 

Meanwhile  the  Trojans  were  no  less  assiduously  employed 
in  mourning  Misenus  on  the  shore,  and  in  paying  the  last 
duties  to  his  senseless14  ashes.  First,  they  rear  a  large  pile 
unctuous  with  pines  and  split  oak,  whose  sides  they  inter- 
weave with  black  boughs,  and  place  in  the  front  deadly  cy- 
presses, and  deck  it  above  with  glittering  arms.  Some  get 
ready  warm  water,  and  caldrons  bubbling  from  the  flames ; 
and  wash  and  anoint  his  cold  limbs.  The  groan  is  raised : 
they  then  lay  the  bewailed  body  on  a  couch,  and  throw  over 
it  the  purple  robes,  his  wonted  apparel.  Others  bore  up  the 
cumbrous  bier,  a  mournful  office  ;  and  with  their  faces  turned 
away,  after  the  manner  of  their  ancestors,  under  it  they  held 
the  torch.  Amassed  together,  blaze  offerings  of  incense, 
viands,  whole  goblets  of  oil  poured  [on  the  pile].  After  the 
ashes  had  sunk  down,  and  the  flames  relented,  they  drenched 
the  relics  and  soaking  embers  in  wine ;  and  Chorinaeus  in- 
closed the  collected  bones  in  a  brazen  urn.  Thrice  too  he 
made  the  circuit  of  the  company  with  holy  water,  sprinkling 
them  with  the  light  spray,  and  a  branch  of  the  prolific  olive  ; 
and  he  purified  them,  and  pronounced  the  last  farewell.  But 

13  Nonius,  i.  46,  quoting  these  verses,  observes,  "  Avernus  iccirco  ap- 
pellatus  est,  quia  est  odor  ejus  avibus  infestissimus."     This  is  probably 
a  mistaken  etymology.     For  the  expression,  compare  Georg.  iv.  270, 
"  grave  olentia  Centaurea."     B. 

14  '  Ingrato,  gratiam  non  sentienti,"  is  Servius's  last  and  correct  ex- 
planation.    Cf.  Copa,  vs.  35  (in  Anth.  Lat.  T.  i.  p.  74),  "  Quid  cineri  in- 
grato  servas  bene  olentia  serta."    B. 


230  ^ENBID.  B.  VI.  233—266. 

pious  ^Eneas  erects  a  spacious  tomb  for  the  hero,  with  his 
arms  upon  it,  and  an  oar  aud  trumpet,  beneath  a  lofty  mount- 
ain, which  now  from  him  is  called  Misenus,  and  retains  a  name 
eternal  through  ages. 

This  done,  he  speedily  executes  the  Sibyl's  injunctions.  There 
was  a  cave  profound  and  hideous  with  wide  yawning  mouth, 
stony,  fenced  by  a  black  lake,  and  the  gloom  of  woods ;  over 
which  none  of  the  flying  kind  were  able  to  wing  their  way 
unhurt :  such  exhalations,  issuing  from  its  grim  jaws,  ascended 
to  the  vaulted  skies :  [for  which  reason  the  Greeks  called  the 
place  by  the  name  of  the  Aoruus.]  1S  Here  first  the  priestess 
places  four  bullocks,  with  backs  of  swarthy  hue,  and  pours  16 
wine  on  their  foreheads,  and  cropping  the  topmost  hairs  be- 
tween the  horns,  lays  them  on  the  sacred  flames  as  the  first  of- 
ferings, by  voice  invoking  Hecate,  whose  power  extends  both 
to  heaven  and  hell.  Others  employ  the  knives,17  and  receive  the 
tepid  blood  in  bowls.  ^Eneas  himself  smites  with  his  sword 
a  ewe-lamb  of  sable  fleece  in  honor  of  the  mother  of  the 
Furies,  and  her  great  sister,  and  in  honor  of  thee,  Proserpina, 
a  barren  heifer.  Then  he  sets  about  the  nocturnal  sacrifices  to 
the  Stygian  king,  and  lays  on  the  flames  the  soljd  carcasses  of 
bulls,  pouring  fat  oil  on  the  broiling  entrails.  /"  Lo  now,  at  the 
early  beams  and  rising  of  the  sun,  the  ground  beneath  their 
feet  began  to  rumble,  the  wooded  heights  to  quake,  and  dogs 
were  seen  to  howl  through  the  shade  of  the  woods,  at  the  ap- 
proach of  the'  goddess.  Hence,  far  hence,  O  ye  profane,  ex- 
claims the  prophetess,  and  begone  from  all  the  grove  ;  and  do 
you,  JEneas,  boldly  march  forward,  and  snatch  your  sword  from 
its  sheath  :  now  is  the  time  for  fortitude,  now  for  firmness  of 
resolution.  This  said,  she  raving  plunged  into  the  open  cave. 
He,  with  intrepid  steps,  keeps  close  by  his  guide  as  she  leads 
the  way. 

Ye  gods,  to  whosi  the  empire  of  ghosts  belong,  and  ye  silent 
shades,  and  Chaos,  and  Phlegethon,  places  where  silence 
reigns  around  in  night !  permit  me  to  utter  the  secrets  I  have 

15  This  line  is  probably  the  work  of  a  grammarian.     B. 

18  Literally,  "  tilts  the  vessel,"  the  verb  probably  meaning  the  action 
of  bending  the  cup  as  the  liquid  is  poured  out.  So  Lucret.  v.  1007,  "  Illi 
imprudentes  ipsi  sibi  saspe  venenum  Vergebant."  Cf.  Gronov.  Obs.  iL 
7.  B. 

17  i.  e.  cut  the  throats  of  the  victims.    B. 


B.  vi.  267—298.  ^ENEID.  231 

heard ;  may  I  by  your  divine  will  disclose  things  buried  in 
deep  earth  and  darkness.  They  moved  along  amid  the  gloom 
under  the  solitary  night  through  the  shade,18  and  through  the 
desolate  halls  and  empty  realms  of  Pluto ;  such  as  is  a  journey 
in  woods  beneath  the  unsteady  moon,  under  a  faint,  glimmer- 
ing light,  when  Jupiter  hath  wrapped  the  heavens  in  shade, 
and  sable  night  had  stripped  objects  of  color. 

Before  the  vestibule  itself,  and  in  the  first  jaws  of  hell, 
Grief  and  vengeful  Cares  have  placed  their  couches,  and  pale 
Diseases  dwell,  and  disconsolate  Old  Age,  and  Fear,  and  the 
evil  counselor  Famine,  and  vile  deformed  Indigence,  forms 
ghastly  to  the  sight !  and  Death,  and  Toil ;  then  Sleep,  akin 
to  Death,  and  criminal  Joys  of  the  mind ;  and  in  the  opposite 
threshold  murderous  War,  and  the  iron  bed-chambers  of  the 
Furies,  and  frantic  Discord,  having  her  viperous  locks  bound 
with  bloody  fillets. 

In  the  midst  a  gloomy  elm  displays  its  boughs  and  aged 
arms,  which  seat  vain  Dreams  are  commonly  said  to  haunt, 
and  under  every  leaf  they  dwell.  Many  monstrous  savages, 
moreover,  of  various  forms,  stable  in  the  gates,  the  Centaurs 
and  double-formed  Scyllas,  and  Briareus19  with  his  hundred 
hands,  and  the  enormous  snake  of  Lerna20  hissing  dreadful, 
and  Chimera  armed  with  flames ;  Gorgons,  Harpies,  and  the 
form  of  Geryori's  three-bodied  ghost.  Here  .^Eneas,  discon- 
certed with  sudden  fear,  grasps  his  sword,  and  presents  the 
naked  point  to  each  approaching  shade  :  and  had  not  his  skill- 
ful guide  put  him  in  mind  that  they  were  airy  unbodied  phan- 
toms, fluttering  about  under  an  empty  form,  he  had  rushed  in, 
and  with  his  sword  struck  at  the  ghosts  in  vain. 

Hence  is  a  path,  which  leads  to  the  floods  of  Tartarean 
Acheron :  here  a  gulf  turbid  and  impure  boils  up  with  mire 
and  vast  whirlpools,  and  disgorges  all  its  sand  into  Cocytus. 

13  Observe  the  accumulation  of  epithets,  all  denoting  the  excessive 
darkness;  "obscuri" — i;solanocte" — " per  umbram."  B. 

13  Briareus,  a  famous  giant,  son  of  Coelus  and  Terra.  The  poets 
feigned  he  had  one  hundred  arms  and  fifty  heads,  and  was  thrown  under 
Mount  ./Etna  for  having  assisted  the  giants  against  the  gods. 

2U  Lerna,  a  lake  of  Argolis  in  Greece,  where  Hercules  killed  the 
famous  hydra.  Chimaera,  a  fabulous  monster,  represented  with  three 
heads,  that  of  a  lion,  of  a  goat,  and  of  a  dragon.  Gteryon,  a  celebrated 
monster,  whom  Hercules  slew.  He  was  represented  by  the  poeta  as 
having  three  bodies  and  three  heads. 


232  JSNEID.  B.  vi.  299—337. 

A  grim  ferryman  guards  these  floods  and  rivers,  Charon,"  of 
frightful  slovenliness  ;  on  whose  chin  a  load  of  gray  hair  neg- 
lected lies ;  his  eyes  are  flame :  his  vestments  hang  from  his 
shoulders  by  a  knot,  with  filth  overgrown.  Himself  thrusts 
on  the  barge  with  a  pole,  and  tends  the  sails,  and  wafts  over 
the  bodies  in  his  iron-colored  boat,  now  in  years:  but  the 
god  is  of  fresh  and  green  old  age.  Hither  the  whole  tribe  in 
swarms  come  pouring  to  the  banks,  matrons  and  men,  the 
souls  of  magnanimous  heroes  who  had  gone  through  life,  boys 
and  unmarried  maids,  and  young  men  who  had  been  stretched 
on  the  funeral  pile  before  the  eyes  of  their  parents ;  as  numer- 
ous as  withered  leaves  fall  in  the  woods  with  the  first  cold  of 
autumn,  or  as  numerous  as  birds  flock  to  the  land  from  deep  ocean, 
when  the  chilling  year21  drives  them  beyond  sea,  and  sends 
them  to  sunny  climes.  .  They  stood  praying  to  cross  the  flood 
the  first,  and  were  stretching  forth  their  hands  with  fond  de- 
sire to  gain  the  further  bank :  but  the  sullen  boatman  admits 
sometimes  these,  sometimes  those  :  while  others  to  a  great 
distance  removed,  he  debars  from  the  banks. 

^Eneas  (for  he  was  amazed  and  moved  with  the  tumult) 
thus  speaks :  O  virgin,  say  what  means  that  flocking  to  the 
river  ?  what  do  the  ghosts  desire  ?  or  by  what  distinction  must 
these  recede  from  the  banks,  those  sweep  with  oars  the  livid 
flood  ?  To  him  the  aged  priestess  thus  briefly  replied  :  Son 
of  Anchise's,  undoubted  offspring  of  the  gods,  you  see  the  deep 
pools  of  Cocytus,  and  the  Stygian  lake,  by  whose  divinity  the 
gods  dread  to  swear  and  violate  [their  oath].  All  that  crowd, 
which  you  see,  consists  of  naked  and  unburied  persons :  that 
ferryman  is  Charon :  these,  whom  the  stream  carries,  are  in- 
terred; for  it  is  not  permitted  to  transport  them  over  the 
horrid  banks,  and  hoarse  waves,  before  their  bones  are  quietly 
lodged  in  a  final  abode.  They  wander  a  hundred  years,  and 
flutter  about  these  shores :  then  at  length  admitted,  they  visit 
the  wished-for  lakes. 

The  offspring  of  Anchises  paused  and  repressed  his  steps, 
deeply  musing,  and  pitying  from  his  soul  their  unkind  lot. 
There  he  espies  Leucaspis,2'  and  Cronies,  the  commander  of 

21  Charon,  a  god  of  hell,  son  of  Erebus  and  Nox,  who  conducted  the 
souls  of  the  dead  in  a  boat  over  the  river  Styx  to  the  infernal  regions. 

22  i.  e.  "season."     See  Broukh.  on  TibulL'i.  1,  17.     B. 

43  Leucaspis,  one  of  ./Eneas'  companions,  lost  during  a  storm  in  the 
Tyrrhene  Sea. 


B.  VI.  338—370.  ^NEID.  233 

the  Lycian  fleet,  mournful,  and  bereaved  of  the  honors  of 
the  dead :  whom  as  they  sailed  from  Troy,  over  the  stormy 
seas,  the  south  wind  sunk  together,  whelming  both  ship  and 
crew  in  the  waves.  Lo !  the  pilot  Palinurus  slowly  advanced, 
who  lately  in  his  Libyan  voyage,  while  he  was  observing  the 
stars,  had  fallen  from  the  stern,  plunged  in  the  midst  of  the 
waves.  When  with  difficulty,  by  reason  of  the  thick  shade, 
^Eneas  knew  him  in  this  mournful  mood,  he  fhus  first  accosts 
him :  What  god,  O  Palinurus,  snatched  you  from  us,  and 
overwhelmed  you  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean  ?  Come  tell  me. 
For  Apollo,  whom  I  never  before  found  false,  in  this  one  re- 
sponse deceived  my  mind,  declaring  that  you  should  be  safe  on 
the  sea,  and  arrive  at  the  Ausonian  coasts  :  Is  this  the  amount 
of  his  plighted  faith  ? 

But  he  [answers]  :  Neither  the  oracle  of  Phoebus  beguiled 
you,  prince  of  the  line  of  Anchises,  nor  a  god  plunged  me  in 
the  sea  ;  for,  falling  headlong,  I  drew  along  with  me  the  helm, 
which  I  chanced  with  great  violence  to  tear  away,  as  I  clung 
to  it,  and  steered  our  course,  being  appointed  pilot.  By  the 
rough  seas  I  swear,  that  I  was  not  so  seriously  apprehensive 
for  myself,  as  that  thy  ship,  despoiled  of  her  rudder,  dispos- 
sessed of  her  pilot,  might  sink  while  such  high  billows  were 
rising.  The  south  wind  drove  me  violently  on  the  water  over 
the  spacious  sea,  three  wintery  nights  :  on  the  fourth  day  I  de- 
scried Italy  from  the  high  ridge  of  a  wave  [whereon  I  was] 
raised  aloft.  I  was  swimming  gradually  toward  land,  and  should 
have  been  out  of  danger,  had  not  the  cruel  people  fallen  upon 
me  with  the  sword  (encumbered  with  my  wet  garment,  and 
grasping  with  crooked  hands  the  rugged  tops  of  a  mountain), 
and  ignorantly  taking  me  for  a  rich  prey.  Now  the  waves 
possess  me,2*  and  the  winds  toss  me  about  the  shore.  But  by 
the  pleasant  light  of  heaven,  and  by  the  vital  air,  by  him  who 
gave  thee  birth,  by  the  hope  of  rising  liilus,  I  thee  implore, 
invincible  one,  release  me  from  these  woes :  either  throw  on 
me  some  earth  (for  thou  canst  do  so),  and  seek  out  the  Veline 
port ;  or,  if  there  be  any  means,  if  thy  goddess  mother  point 
out  any  (for  thou  dost  not,  I  presume,  without  the  will  of  the 
gods,  attempt  to  cross  such  mighty  rivers  and  the  Stygian 
lake),  lend  your  hand  to  an  unhappy  wretch,  and  bear  me 

24  i.  e.  "  my  body."  So  avroOf  is  used  l/y  Horn.  II.  A.  4.  Cf.  below 
vi.  507.  B. 


234  ^ENEID.  R  YL  371—402. 

with  you  over  the  waves,  that  in  death  at  least  I  may  rest  in 
peaceful  seats. 

Thus  he  spoke,  when  thus  the  prophetess  began :  Whence, 
O  Palinurus,  rises  in  thee  this  so  impious  desire  ?  Shall  you 
unburied  behold  the  Stygian  floods,  and  the  grim  river  of  the 
Furies,  or  reach  the  bank  against  the  command  [of  heaven]  ? 
Cease  to  hope  that  the  decrees  of  the  gods  are  to  be  altered  by 
prayers ;  but  mindful  take  these  predictions  as  the  solace  of 
your  hard  fate.  For  the  neighboring  people,"  compelled  by 
portentous  plagues  from  heaven,  shall  through  their  several 
cities  far  and  wide  offer  atonement  to  thy  ashes,  erect  a  tomb, 
and  stated  anniversary  offerings  on  that  tomb  present;  and 
the  place  shall  forever  retain  the  name  of  Palinurus.  By 
these  words  his  cares  were  removed,  and  grief  was  for  a  time 
banished  from  his  disconsolate  heart :  he  rejoices  in  the  land 
that  is  to  bear  his  name. 

They  therefore  accomplish  their  journey  begun,  and  ap- 
proach the  river:  whom  when  the  boatman  soon  from  the 
Stygian  wave  beheld  advancing  through  the  silent  grove,  and 
stepping  forward  to  the  bank,  thus  he  first  accosts  them  in 
words,  and  chides  them  unprovoked:  Whoever  thou  mayest 
be,  who  art  now  advancing  armed  to  our  rivers,  say  quick  for 
what  end  thou  comest ;  and  from  that  very  spot  repress  thy 
step.  This  is  the  region  of  Ghosts,  of  Sleep,  and  drowsy 
Night :  to  waft  over  the  bodies  of  the  living  in  my  Stygian 
boat  is  not  permitted.  Nor  indeed  was  it  joy  to  me  that  I  re- 
ceived Alcides  on  the  lake  when  he  came,  or  Theseus  and  Pi- 
rithous,1"1 though  they  were  the  offspring  of  the  gods,  and  in- 
vincible in  might.  One  with  his  hand  put  the  keeper  of  Tar- 
tarus in  chains,  and  dragged  him  trembling  from  the  throne 
of  our  king  himself;  the  others  attempted  to  carry  off  our 
queen  from  Pluto's  bed-chamber. 

In  answer  to  which,  the  Amphrysian  prophetess  spoke : 
No  such  plots  are  here,  be  not  disturbed,  nor  do  these  weapons 
bring  violence :  the  huge  porter  may  bay  in  his  den  forever, 
terrifying  the  incorporeal  shades:  chaste  Proserpine  may  re- 

83  This  befell  the  Lucanians.     See  Servius.     B. 

28  Pirithous,  a  son  of  Ixion,  and  king  of  the  Lapithser  whose  friendship 
with  Theseus,  king  of  Athens,  was  proverbial.  According  to  the  poets, 
the  two  friends  descended  into  the  infernal  regions  to  carry  away  Pros- 
erpine, but  Pluto,  who  was  apprised  of  their  intention,  bound  Pirithous 
to  his  father's  wheel,  and  Theseus  to  a  huge  stone. 


B.  vi.  403—436.  ^ENEID.  235 

main  in  her  uncle's  palace.  Trojan  ./Eneas,  illustrious  for  piety 
and  arms,  descends  to  the  deep  shades  of  Erebus  to  his  sire. 
If  the  image  of  such  piety  makes  no  impression  on  you,  own 
a  regard  at  least  to  this  branch  (she  shows  the  branch  that  was 
concealed  under  her  robe).  Then  his  heart  from  swelling  rage 
is  stilled :  nor  passed  more  words  than  these.  He  with  wonder 
gazing  on  the  hallowed  present  of  the  fatal  branch,  beheld 
after  a  long  season,  turns  toward  them  his  lead-colored 
barge,  and  approaches  the  bank.  Thence  he  dislodges  the 
other  souls  that  sat  on  the  long  benches,  and  clears  the 
hatches ;  at  the  same  time,  receives  into  the  hold  the  mighty 
^Eneas.  The  boat  of  sewn  hide27  groaned  under  the  weight, 
and,  being  leaky,  took  in  much  water  from  the  lake.  At 
length  he  lands  the  hero  and  the  prophetess  safe  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  on  the  foul  slimy  strand  and  sea-green  weed. 
Huge  Cerberus  makes  these  realms  to  resound  with  barking 
from  his  triple  jaws,  stretched  at  his  enormous  length  in  a  den 
that  fronts  the  gate.  To  whom  the  prophetess,  seeing  his 
neck  now  bristle  with  horrid  snakes,  flings  a  soporific  cake  of 
honey  and  medicated  grain.  He,  in  the  mad  rage  of  hunger, 
opening  his  three  mouths,  snatehes  the  offered  morsel,  and, 
spread  on  the  ground,  relaxes  his  monstrous  limbs,  and  is  ex- 
tended at  vast  length  over  all  the  cave.  ./Eneas,  now  that  the 
keeper  [of  hell]  is  buried  [in  sleep],  seizes  the  passage,  and 
swift  overpasses  the  bank  of  that  flood  whence  there  is  no 
return. 

Forthwith  are  heard  voices,  loud  waitings,  and  weeping 
ghosts  of  infants,  in  the  first  opening  of  the  gate  :  whom,  be- 
reaved of  sweet  life  out  of  the  course  of  nature,  and  snatched 
from  the  breast,  a  black  day  cut  off,  and  buried  in  an  untimely 
grave. 

Next  to  those,  are  such  as  had  been  condemned  to  death  by 
false  accusations.  Nor  yet  were  those  seats  assigned  them  with- 
out a  trial,  without  a  judge.  Minos,28  as  inquisitor,  shakes  the 
urn  :  he  convokes  the  council  of  the  silent,  and  examines  their 
lives  and  crimes. 

The   next    places  in   order  those  mournful    ones  possess, 

27  i.  e.  formed  of  hides  sewn  across  wicker  ribs.     See  Anthon.    B. 

23  Minos,  a  celebrated  king  and  lawgiver  of  Crete,  son  of  Jupiter  and 
Europa.  He  was  rewarded  for  his  equity,  after  death,  with  the  office 
of  judge  in  the  infernal  regions,  with  _33acu3  and  Rhadamanthus. 


236  -&NEID.  B.  vi.  437—460. 

who,  though  free  from  crime,  procured  death  to  themselves  with 
their  own  hands,  and,  sick  of  the  light,  threw  away  their  lives. 
How  gladly  would  they  now  endure  poverty  and  painful  toils 
in  the  upper  regions  !  Fate  opposes,  and  the  hateful  lake  im- 
prisons them  with  its  dreary  waves,  and  Styx,  nine  times  rolling 
between,  confines  them. 

Not  far  from  this  part,  extended  on  every  side,  are  shown 
the  fields  of  mourning  :  so  they  call  them  by  name.  Here  by- 
paths remote  conceal,  and  myrtle-groves  cover  those  around, 
whom  unrelenting  love,  with  his  cruel  venom,  consumed 
away.  Their  cares  leave  them  not  in  death  itself.  In  these 
places  he  sees  PhaBdra™  and  Procris,so  and  disconsolate  Eri- 
phyle  pointing  to  the  wounds  she  had  received  from  her  cruel 
son ;  Evadne51  also,  and  Pasiphae  :  these  Laodamia  accom- 
panies, and  CaBneus,  once  a  youth,  now  a  woman,  and  again 
by  fate  transformed  into  his  pristine  shape.  Among  whom 
Phoenician  Dido,  fresh  from  her  wound,  was  wandering  in  a 
spacious  wood ;  whom  as  soon  as  the  Trojan  hero  approached, 
and  discovered  faintly  through  the  shades  (in  like  manner  as 
one  sees,  or  thinks  he  sees,  the  moon  rising  through  the  clouds 
in  the  beginning  of  her  monthly  course),  he  dropped  tears, 
and  addressed  her  in  love's  sweet  accents  :  Hapless  Dido,  was 
it  then  a  true  report  I  had  of  your  being  dead,  and  that  you 
had  finished  your  own  destiny  by  the  sword  ?  Was  I,  alas  ! 
the  cause  of  your  death  ?  I  swear  by  the  stars,  by  the  powers 
above,  and  by  whatever  faith  may  be  under  the  deep  earth, 
that  against  my  will,  O  queen,  I  departed  from  thy  coast. 

29  Phaedra,  a  daughter  of  Minos  and  Pasiphao,  who  married  Theseus ; 
her  criminal  passion  for  Hippolytus,  and  the  tragical  end  of  that  young 
prince,  by  his  chariot  being  overturned  and  dragged  among  rocks,  so 
stung  her  with  remorse,  that  she  hanged  herself. 

30  Procris,  a  daughter  of  Erechtheus,  king  of  Athens,  and  wife  of 
Cephalus.     Eriphyle,  a  sister  of  Adrastus,  king  of  Argos,  and  the  wife 
of  Amphiaraus :  she  was  murdered  by  her  son  Alcmseon,  for  having 
discovered  where  Amphiaraus  was  concealed,  that  he  might  not  accom- 
pany the  Argives  in  their  expedition  against  Thebes. 

31  Evadne,  the  wife  of  Capaneus,  one  of  the  seven  chiefs  who  went 
against  Thebes ;  she  threw  herself  on  his  funeral  pile,  and  perished  in 
the  flames.     Laodamia,  a  daughter  of  Acastus,  and  the  wife  of  Protesi- 
laus,  whose  departure  for  the  Trojan  war,  and  subsequent  fall  by  the 
hand  of  Hector,  caused  her  death  from  excessive  grief.     Caeneus,  a  Thes- 
salian  woman,  feigned  by  the  poets  to  have  had  the  power  of  changing 
her  sex. 


B.  vi.  461—489.  ./ENEID.  237 

But  the  mandates  of  the  gods,  which  now  compel  me  to  travel 
through  these  shades,  through  noisome  dreary  regions  and 
deep  night,  drove  me  from  you  by  their  authority  ;  nor  could 
I  believe  that  I  should  bring  upon  you  such  deep  anguish  by 
my  departure.  Stay  your  steps,  and  withdraw  not  thyself 
from  my  sight.  Whom  dost  thou  fly  ?  This  is  the  last  time 
fate  allows  me  to  address  you.  With  these  words  JEneas 
thought  to  soothe  her  soul  inflamed,  and  eying  him  with 
stern  regard,  and  provoked  his  tears  to  flow.  She,  turned 
away,  kept  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground  ;  nor  alters  her  looks 
more,  in  consequence  of  the  conversation  he  had  begun,  than 
if  she  were  fixed  immovable  like  a  stubborn  flint  or  rock  of 
Parian  marble.  At  length,  she  abruptly  retired,  and  in  de- 
testation fled  into  a  shady  grove,  where  Sichaeus,"  her  first 
lord,  answers  her  with  [amorous]  cares,  and  returns  her  love 
for  love,  ^neas,  nevertheless,  in  commotion  for  her  disastrous 
fate,  with  weeping  eyes,  pursues  her  far,  and  pities  her  as  she 
goes. 

Hence  he  holds  on  his  destined  way ;  and  now  they  had 
reached  the  last  fields,  which  by  themselves  apart  renowned 
warriors  frequent.  Here  Tydeus"  appears  to  him,  here  Par- 
thenopoeus  illustrious  in  arms,  and  the  ghost  of  pale  Adrastus. 
Here  [appear]  those  Trojans  who  had  died  in  the  field  of 
battle,  much  lamented  in  the  upper  world  :  whom  when  he 
beheld  all  together  in  a  numerous  body,  he  inwardly  groaned  ; 
Glaucus,"  Medon,  Thersilochus,  the  three  sons  of  Antenor, 
and  Polybsetes  devoted  to  Ceres,  and  Idaeus  still  handling  his 
chariot,  still  his  armor.  The  ghosts  in  crowds  around  him 
stand  on  the  right  and  left:  nor  are  they  satisfied  with 
seeing  him  once ;  they  wish  to  detain  him  long,  to  come 
into  close  conference  with  him,  and  learn  the  reasons  of  his 

32  Sichaeus,  the  husband  of  Dido,  and  the  priest  of  Hercules,  whom 
Pygmalion,  his  brother-in-law,  murdered,  to  obtain  his  riches. 

33  Tydeus,  the  son  of  (Eneus,  king  of  Calydon,  was  one  of  the  seven 
chiefs  of  the  army  of  Adrastus,  king  of  Argos,  in  the  Theban  war,  where 
he  behaved  with  great  courage,  but  was  slain  by  Melanippus.     He  was 
father  to  Diomedes,  who  was  therefore  called  Tydides.     Parthenopceus, 
a  son  of  Meleager  and  Atalanta,  was  also  one  of  the  seven  chiefk  who 
accompanied  Adrastus  in  his  expedition  against  Thebes. 

34  Glaucus,  a  son  of  Hippolochus,  and  grandson  of  Bellerophon.     He 
assisted  Priam  in  the  Trojan  war,  and  was  slain  by  Ajax.     Thersilochus, 
a  son  of  Antenor,  and  leader  of  the  Paeonians,  was  slain  by  Achilles. 


238  ^BNEID.  a  vi.  490—523. 

visit.  But  as  soon  as  the  Grecian  chiefs  and  Agamemnon's" 
battalions  saw  the  hero,  and  his  arms  gleaming  through  the 
shades,  they  quaked  with  dire  dismay :  some  turned  their 
backs,  as  when  they  fled  once  to  their  ships ;  some  raise  their 
slender  voices ;  the  scream  begun  dies  in  their  gasping 
throats." 

And  here  he  espies  Deiphobus,  the  son  of  Priam,  mangled 
in  every  limb,  his  face  and  both  his  hands  cruelly  torn, 
his  temples  bereft  of  the  ears  cropped  off,  and  his  nostrils 
slit  with  a  hideously  deformed  wound.  Thus  he  hardly  knew 
him  quaking  for  agitation,  and  seeking  to  hide  the  marks  of 
his  dreadful  punishment ;  and  he  first  accosts  him  with  well- 
known  accents  :  Deiphobus,  great  in  arms,  sprung  from  Teu- 
cer's  noble  blood,  who  could  choose  to  inflict  such  cruelties  ? 
Or  who  was  allowed  to  exercise  such  power  over  you  ?  To 
me,  in  that  last  night,  a  report  was  brought  that  you,  tired 
with  the  vast  slaughter  of  the  Greeks,  had  fallen  at  last  on  a 
heap  of  mingled  carcasses.  Then,  with  my  own  hands,  I  raised 
to  you  an  empty  tomb  on  the  Rhcetean  shore,  and  thrice  with 
loud  voice  I  invoked  your  manes.  Your  name  and  arms  pos- 
sess the  place.  Your  body,  my  friend,  I  could  not  find,  or, 
at  my  departure,  deposit  in  thy  native  land.  And  upon  this 
the  son  of  Priam  said :  Nothing,  my  friend,  has  been  omitted 
by  you ;  you  have  discharged  every  duty  to  Deiphobus,  and 
to  the  shadow  of  a  corpse.  But  my  own  fate,  and  the  cursed 
wickedness  of  Helen,  plunged  me  in  these  woes  :  she  hath  left 
me  these  monuments  [of  her  love].  For  how  we  passed  that 
last  night  amid  ill-grounded  joys  you  know,  and  must  re- 
member but  two  well,  when  the  fatal  horse  came  bounding 
over  our  lofty  walls,  and  pregnant  brought  armed  infantry  in 
its  womb.  She,  pretending  a  dance,  led  her  train  of  Phrygian 
matrons  yelling  around  the  orgies  :  herself  in  the  midst  held  a 
large  flaming  torch,  and  called  to  the  Greeks  from  the  lofty 
tower.  I,  being  at  that  time  oppressed  with  care,  and  over- 
powered with  sleep,  was  lodged  in  my  unfortunate  bed-cham- 
ber :  rest,  balmy,  profound,  and  the  perfect  image  of  a  calm, 
peaceful  death,  pressed  me  as  I  lay.  Meanwhile  my  incom- 
parable spouse  removes  all  arms  from  my  palace,  and  had 

33  Agamemnon  was  king  of  Mycenae  and  Argos.  He  was  chosen 
commander-in-chief  of  the  Greeks  in  the  Trojan  war. 

35  Literally,  "  fails  them  as  they  open  their  mouths  to  utter  it."     B. 


B.  vi.  524—555.  ^ENEID.  239 

withdrawn  my  trusty  sword  from  my  head :  she  calls  Mene- 
laus37  into  the  palace,  and  throws  open  the  gates ;  hoping,  no 
doubt,  that  would  be  a  mighty  favor  to  her  amorous  husband, 
and  that  thus  the  infamy  of  her  former  wicked  deeds  might 
be  extinguished.  In  short,  they  burst  into  my  chamber :  that 
traitor  of  the  race  of  ^Eolus,38  the  promoter  of  villainy,  is 
joined  in  company  with  them.  Ye  gods,  requite  these  cruel- 
ties to  the  Greeks,  if  I  supplicate  vengeance  with  pious  lips ! 
But  come  now,  in  thy  turn,  say  what  adventure  hath  brought 
thee  hither  alive.  Dost  thou  come  driven  by  the  casualties  of 
the  main,  or  by  the  direction  of  the  gods  ?  or  what  fortune 
compels  thee  to  visit  these  dreary  mansions,  troubled  regions, 
where  the  sun  never  shines  ? 

In  this  conversation  the  sun  in  his  rosy  chariot  had  now 
passed  the  meridian  in  his  ethereal  course ;  and  they  perhaps 
would  in  this  manner  have  passed  the  whole  time  assigned 
them ;  but  the  Sibyl,  his  companion,  put  him  in  mind,  and 
thus  briefly  spoke :  ./Eneas,  the  night  comes  on  apace,  while 
we  waste  the  hours  in  lamentations.  This  is  the  place  where 
the  path  divides  itself  in  two  :  the  right  is  what  leads  beneath 
great  Pluto's  walls ;  by  this  our  way  to  Elysium  lies :  but  the 
left  carries  on  the  punishments  of  the  wicked,  and  conveys  to 
cursed  Tartarus.  On  the  other  hand,  Deiphobus  [said]  :  Be 
not  incensed,  great  priestess ;  I  shall  be  gone ;  I  will  fill  up 
the  number  [of  the  ghosts]  and  be  rendered  back  to  dark- 
ness. Go,  go,  thou  glory  of  our  nation ;  mayest  thou  find 
fates  more  kind !  This  only  he  spoke,  and  at  the  word  turned 
his  steps. 

^Eneas  on  a  sudden  looks  back,  and  under  a  rock  on  the 
left  sees  vast  prisons  inclosed  with  a  triple  wall,  which  Tar- 
tarean Phlegethon's  rapid  flood  environs  with  torrents  of 
flame,  and  whirls  roaring  rocks  along.  Fronting  is  a  huge 
gate,  with  columns  of  solid  adamant,  that  no  strength  of  men, 
nor  the  gods  themselves,  can  with  steel  demolish.  An  iron 
tower  rises  aloft ;  and  there  wakeful  Tisiphone,  with  her 

37  Menelaus,  the  brother  of  Agamemnon,  and  the  husband  of  Helen, 
the  daughter  of  Tyndarus,  with  whom  he  received  the  crown  of  Sparta. 
This,  however,  he  had  enjoyed  only  a  short  time,  when  Helen  was  car- 
ried away  by  Paris,  the  son  of  Priam,  which  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
Trojan  war,  where  Menelaus  behaved  with  great  spirit  and  courage. 

3S  Race  of  -<Eolus ;  Ulysses  is  here  meant,  Sisyphus,  the  son  of  ^Eolus, 
being,  according  to  some,  his  father. 


240  .  ^ENEID.  B.  VL  556—586. 

bloody  robe  tucked  up  around  her,  sits  to  watch  the  vestibule 
both  night  and  day.  Hence  groans  are  heard  ;  the  cruel 
lashes  resound ;  the  grating  too  of  iron,  and  clank  of  drag- 
ging chains.  ^Eneas  stopped  short,  and  starting  listened  to 
the  din.  What  scenes  of  guilt  are  these  ?  O  virgin,  say ;  or 
with  what  pains  are  they  chastised  ?  what  hideous  yelling 
[ascends]  to  the  skies !  Then  thus  the  prophetess  began : 
Renowned  leader  of  the  Trojans,  no  holy  person  is  allowed  to 
tread  the  accursed  threshold :  but  Hecate,  when  she  set  me 
over  the  groves  of  Avernus,  herself  taught  me  the  punish- 
ments appointed  by  the  gods,  and  led  me  through  every  part. 
Cretan  Rhadamanthus39  possesses  these  most  ruthless  realms ; 
examines  and  punishes  frauds ;  and  forces  every  one  to  con- 
fess what  crimes  committed  in  the  upper  world  he  had  left 
[unatoned]  till  the  late  hour  of  death,  hugging  himself  in 
secret  crime  of  no  avail.  Forthwith  avenging  Tisiphone,  armed 
with  her  whip,  scourges  the  guilty  with  cruel  insult,  and  in  her 
left  hand  shaking  over  them  her  grim  snakes,  calls  the  fierce 
troops  of  her  sister  Furies. 

Then  at  length  the  accursed  gates,  grating  on  their  dread- 
ful-sounding hinges,  are  thrown  open.  See  you  what  kind 
of  watch  sits  in  the  entry  ?  what  figure  guards  the  gate  ?  An 
overgrown  Hydra,40  more  fell  [than  any  Fury],  with  fifty 
black  gaping  mouths,  has  her  seat  within.  Then  Tartarus 
itself  sinks  deep  down,  and  extends  toward  the  shades  twice 
as  far  as  is  the  prospect  upward  to  the  ethereal  throne  of 
heaven.  Here  Earth's  ancient  progeny,  the  Titanian  youth, 
hurled  down  with  thunderbolts,  welter  in  the  profound  abyss. 
Here  too  I  saw  the  two  sons  of  Aloeus,41  gigantic  bodies,  who 
attempted  with  their  might  to  overturn  the  spacious  heavens, 
and  thrust  down  Jove  from  his  exalted  kingdom.  Salmoneus" 

39  Rhadamanthus,  a  son  of  Jupiter  and  Europa,  who  reigned  over  the 
Cyclades  and  many  of  the  Greek  cities  in  Asia,  and  for  his  justice  and 
equity  was  made  one  of  the  judges  of  hell. 

40  Hydra,  a  fabulous  monster  of  the  serpent  tribe :  that  which  in- 
fested the  neighborhood  of  the  lake  Lerna,  in  Peloponnesus,  was  killed 
by  Hercules. 

41  Two  sons  of  Aloeus,  the  giants  Otus  and  Ephialtes,  who  made  war 
against  the  gods,  and  were  killed  by  Apollo  and  Diana, 

48  Salmoneus,  a  king  of  Elis,  who  for  his  impiety  in  imitating  the 
thunder  of  Jupiter,  was  feigned  to  have  been  struck  by  a  thunderbolt, 
and  placed  in  the  infernal  regions,  near  his  brother  Sisyphua. 


B.  VI.  586—618.  ^ENEID. 


24rl 


likewise  I  beheld  suffering  severe  punishment,  for  having  imi- 
tated Jove's  flaming  bolts,  and  the  sounds  of  heaven.  He, 
drawn  in  his  chariot  by  four  horses,  and  brandishing  a  torch, 
rode  triumphant  among  the  nations  of  Greece,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  city  Elis,  and  claimed  to  himself  the  honor  of 
the  gods :  infatuate !  who,  with  brazen  car,  and  the  prancing 
of  his  horn-hoofed  steeds,  would  needs  counterfeit  the  storms 
and  inimitable  thunder.  But  the  almighty  Sire  amid  the 
thick  clouds  threw  a  bolt  (not  firebrands  he,  nor  smoky  light 
from  torches),  and  hurled  him  down  headlong  in  a  vast  whirl- 
wind. Here  too  you  might  have  seen  Tityus,"  the  foster- 
child  of  all-bearing  Earth:  whose, body  is  extended  over  nine 
whole  acres ;  and  a  huge  vulture,  with  her  hooked  beak,  peck- 
ing at  his  immortal  liver,  and  his  bowels,  the  fruitful  source 
of  punishment,  both  searches  them  for  her  banquet,  and  dwells 
in  the  deep  recesses  -of  his  breast ;  nor  is  any  respite  given  to 
his  fibers  still  springing  up  afresh.  Why  should  I  mention 
that  Lapithae,  Ixion,  and  Pirithous,  over  whom  hangs  a  black 
flinty  rock,  every  moment  threatening  to  tumble  down,  and 
seeming  to  be  actually  falling?  Golden  pillars  [supporting] 
lofty  genial  couches  shine,  and  full  in  their  view  are  banquets 
furnished  out  with  regal  magnificence ;  the  chief  of  the  Furies 
sits  by  them,  and  debars  them  from  touching  the  provisions 
with  their  hands;  and  starts  up,  lifting  her  torch  on  high, 
and  thunders  over  them  with  her  voice.  Here  are  those44 
who,  while  life  remained,  had  been  at  enmity  with  their  bro- 
thers, had  beaten  a  parent,  or  wrought  deceit  against  a  client ; 
or  who  alone  brooded  over  their  acquired  wealth,  nor  assigned 
a  portion  to  their  own ;  which  class  is  the  most  numerous : 
those  too  who  were  slain  for  adultery,  who  joined  in  impious 
wars,  aud  did  not 'scruple  to  violate  the  faith  they  had  plighted 
to  their  masters :  shut  up,  they  await  their  punishment.  But 
what  kind  of  punishment  seek  not  to  be  informed,  in  what 
shape  [of  misery],  or  in  what  state  they  are  involved.  Some 
roll  a  huge  stone,  and  hang  fast  bound  to  the  spokes  of  wheels. 
There  sits,  and  to  eternity  shall  sit,  the  unhappy  Theseus: 

43  Tityus,  a  celebrated  giant,  son  of  Terra,  or  according  to  others,  of 
Jupiter  and  Elara. 

44  Cf.  Aristoph.  Ban.  146,  and  my  notes  on  JEsch.  Bum.  p.  188,  n.  2, 
ed.  Bohn.    B. 

11 


V 
242  -&NEID.  B.  VI.  619 — 650 

and  Phlegyas45  most  wretched  is  a  monitor  to  all,  and  with 
loud  voice  proclaims  through  the  shades :  "  Warned  [by  ex' 
ample],  learn  righteousness,  and  not  to  contemn  the  gods." 
One  sold  his  country  for  gold,  and  imposed  on  it  a  domineer' 
ing  tyrant;  made  and  unmade  laws  for  money.  Another  in' 
vaded  his  daughter's  bed,  and  an  unlawful  wedlock :  all  of 
them  dared  some  heinous  crime,  and  accomplished  what  they 
dared.  Had  I  a  hundred  tongues,  and  a  hundred  mouths,  ? 
voice  of  iron,  I  could  not  comprehend  all  the  species  of  their 
crimes,  nor  enumerate  the  names  of  all  their  punishments. 

When  the  aged  priestess  of  Phoebus  had  uttered  these  words, 
she  adds,  But  come  now,  set  forward,  and  finish  the  task  you 
have  undertaken ;  let  us  haste  on :  I  see  the  walls  [of  Pluto], 
wrought  in  the  forges  of  the  Cyclops,  and  the  gates  with  their 
arch  full  in  our  view,  where  our  instructions  enjoin  us  to 
deposit  this  our  offering.  She  said ;  and  with  equal  pace 
advancing  through  the  gloomy  path,  they  speedily  traverse 
the  intermediate  space,  and  approach  the  gates.  ^Eneaa 
springs  forward  to  the  entry,  sprinkles  his  body  with  fresh 
water,  and  fixes  the  bough  in  the  fronting  portal. 

Having  finished  these  rites,  and  performed  the  offering  to 
the  goddess,  they  came  at  length  to  the  regions  of  joy,  delight- 
ful green  retreats,  and  blessed  abodes  in  groves,  where  happi- 
ness abounds.  A  freer46  and  purer  sky  here  clothes  the  fields 
with  sheeny  light :  they  know  their  own  sun,  their  own  stars. 
Some  exercise  their  limbs  on  the  grassy  green,  in  sports  con- 
tend, and  wrestle  on  the  tawny  sand :  some  strike  the  ground 
\vith  their  feet  in  the  dance,  and  sing  hymns.  [Orpheus,] 
too,  the  Thracian  priest,  in  his  long  robe,  replies47  in  melodi- 
ous numbers  to  the  seven  distinguished  notes ;  and  now  strikes 
the  same  with  his  fingers,  now  with  his  ivory  quill.  Here 
may  be  seen  Teucer's  ancient  race,  a  most  illustrious  line, 
magnanimous  heroes,  born  in  happier  times,  Bus,48  Assaracus, 


45  Phlegyas,   a  son  of  Mars,  king  of  the  Lapithse  in  Thessaly,  who 
plundered  and  burnt  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi ;  for  this  impiety  he 
was  killed  by  Apollo,  who  placed  him  in  hell  where  a  huge  stone  was 
suspended  over  his  head,  which  kept  him  in  continual  alarms. 

46  Compare  Anthon's  note.     B. 

47  See  Anthon.    B. 

4*  Ilus,  the  fourth  king  of  Troy,  was  son  of  Tros  and  Callirhoe,  and 
father  of  Themis  and  Laomedon. 


B.  vi.  650-6Sfi  JENEID.  243 

and  Dardanus,  the  founder  of  Troy.  From  afar,  [^Eneas] 
views  with  wonder  the  arms  and  empty  chariots  of  the  chiefs. 
Their  spears  stand  fixed  in  the  ground,  and  up  and  down 
their  horses  feed  at  large  through  the  plain.  The  same  fond- 
ness they  had  when  alive  for  chariots  and  arms,  the  same  con- 
cern for  training  up  shining  steeds,  follow  them  when  deposited 
beneath  the  earth. 

Lo !  he  beholds  others  on  the  right  and  left  feasting  upon 
the  grass,  and  singing  the  joyful  paean  to  Apollo  in  concert, 
amid  a  fragrant  grove  of  laurel ;  whence  from  on  high  the 
river  Eridanus  rolls  in  copious  streams  through  the  wood. 
Here  is  a  band  of  those  who  sustained  wounds  in  fighting  for 
their  country ;  priests  who  preserved  themselves  pure  and 
holy,  while  life  remained ;  pious  poets,  who  sung  in  strains 
worthy  of  Apollo ;  those  who  improved  life  by  the  invention, 
of  arts,  and  who  by  their  worthy  deeds  made  others  remember 
them  :  all  these  have  their  temples  crowded  with  a  snow- 
white  fillet.  Whom,  gathered  around,  the  Sibyl  thus  ad- 
dressed, Musa3us49  chiefly ;  for  a  numerous  crowd  had  him  in, 
their  center,  and  looked  up  with  reverence  to  him  raised  above 
them  by  the  height  of  his  shoulders :  Say,  blessed  souls,  and 
thou,  best  of  poets,  what  region,  what  place  contains  Anchises  ? 
on  his  account  we  have  come,  and  crossed  the  great  rivers  of 
hell.  And  thus  the  hero  briefly  returned  her  an  answer: 
None  of  us  have  a  fixed  abode ;  in  shady  groves  we  dwell,  or 
lie  on  couches  all  along  the  banks,  and  on  meadows  fresh  with 
rivulets  :  but  do  you,  if  so  your  heart's  inclination  leads,  over- 
pass this  eminence,  and  I  will  set  you  in  the  easy  path.  He 
said,  and  advanced  his  steps  on  before,  and  shows  them  from 
a  rising  ground  the  shining  plains,  then  they  descend  from 
the  summit  of  the  mountain.  But  father  Anchises,  deep  in  a 
verdant  dale,  was  surveying  with  studious  care  the  souls 
there  inclosed,  who  were  to  revisit  the  light  above ;  and  hap- 
pened to  be  reviewing  the  whole  number  of  his  race,  his  dear 
descendants,  their  fates  and  fortunes,  their  manners  and 
achievements.  As  soon  as  he  beheld  JEneas  advancing  toward 
him  across  the  meads,  he  joyfully  stretched  out  both  his  hands, 
and  tears  poured  down  his  cheeks,  and  these  words  dropped 


49  Musaeua,  an  ancient  Greek  poet,  supposed  to  have  been  the  son  or 
disciple  of  Linus  or  Orpheus,  and  to  have  lived  about  1410  years  B.  c. 


244  -lENEID.  B.  vi.  687-722. 

from  his  mouth :  Are  you  come  at  length,  and  has  that  piety, 
experienced  by  your  sire,  surmounted  the  arduous  journey  ? 
Am  I  permitted,  my  son,  to  see  thy  face,  to  hear  and  return 
the  well-known  accents  ?  So  indeed  I  concluded  in  my  mind, 
and  reckoned  it  would  happen,  computing  the  time ;  nor  have 
my  anxious  hopes  deceived  me.  Over  what  lands,  O  son, 
and  over  what  immense  seas  have  you,  I  hear,  been  tossed ! 
with  what  dangers  harassed !  how  I  dreaded  lest  you  had 
sustained  harm  from  Libya's  realms!  But  he  [said],  Your 
ghost,  your  sorrowing  ghost,  my  sire  oftentimes  appearing, 
compelled  me  to  set  forward  to  these  thresholds.  My  fleet 
rides  in  the  Tyrrhene  Sea.  Permit  me,  father,  to  join  my 
right  hand  [with  thine];  and  withdraw  not  thyself  from  my 
embrace.  So  saying,  he  at  the  same  time  bedewed  his  cheeks 
with  a  flood  of  tears.  There  thrice  he  attempted  to  throw  his 
arms  around  his  neck ;  thrice  the  phantom,  grasped  in  vain, 
escaped  his  hold,  like  the  fleet  gales,  or  resembling  most  a  fugi- 
tive dream. 

Meanwhile  ./Eneas  sees  in  the  retired  vale,  a  grove  situate 
by  itself,  shrubs  rustling  in  the  woods,  and  the  river  Lethe 
which  glides  by  those  peaceful  dwellings.  Around  this  un- 
numbered tribes  and  nations  of  ghosts  were  fluttering ;  as  in 
meadows  on  a  serene  summer's  day,  when  the  bees  sit  on  the 
various  blossoms,  and  swarm  around  the  snow-white  lilies,  all 
the  plain  buzzes  with  their  humming  noise.  ./Eneas,  con- 
founded, shudders  at  the  unexpected  sight,  and  asks  the  causes, 
what  are  those  rivers  in  the  distance,  or  what  ghosts  have  in 
such  crowds  filled  the  banks?  Then  father  Anchises  [said], 
Those  souls,  for  whom  other  bodies  are  destined  by  fate,  at 
the  stream  of  Lethe's  flood  quaff  care-expelling  draughts  and 
lasting  oblivion.  Long  indeed  have  I  wished  to  give  you  a 
detail  of  these,  and  to  point  them  out  before  you,  and  enu- 
merate this  my  future  race,  that  you  may  rejoice  the  more 
with  me  in  the  discovery  of  Italy.  O  father,  is  it  to  bo 
imagined  that  any  souls  of  an  exalted  nature  will  go  hence  to 
the  world  above,  and  enter  again  into  inactive  bodies  ?  What 
direful  love  of  the  light  possesses  the  miserable  beings  ?  I, 
indeed,  replies  Anchises,  will  inform  you,  my  son,  nor  hold 
you  longer  in  suspense :  and  thus  he  unfolds  each  particular  in 
order. 


B.  Yl.  Y23— *?56. 

In  the  first  place,  the  spirit  within  nourishes  the  heavens, 
the  earth,  and  watery  plains,60  the  moon's  enlightened  orb,  and 
the  Titanian  stars ;"  and  the  mind,  diffused  through  all  the 
members,  actuates  the  whole  frame,  and  mingles  with  the  vast 
body  [of  the  universe].  Thence  the  race  of  men  and  beasts, 
the  vital  principles  of  the  flying  kind,  and  the  monsters  which 
the  ocean  breeds  under  its  smooth  plain.  These  principles 
have  the  active  force  of  fire,  and  are  of  a  heavenly  original, 
so  far  as  they  are  not  clogged  by  noxious  bodies,  blunted  by 
earth-born  limbs  and  dying  members.  Hence  they  fear  and 
desire,  grieve  and  rejoice ;  and  shut  up  in  darkness  and  a 
gloomy  prison,  lose  sight  of  their  native  skies."  Even  when 
with  the  last  beams  of  light  their  life  is  gone,  yet  not  every 
ill,  nor  all  corporeal  stains,  are  quite  removed  from  the  unhappy 
beings ;  and  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  many  imper- 
fections which  have  long  been  joined  to  the  soul,  should  be 
in  marvelous  ways  increased  and  riveted  therein.  Therefore 
are  they  afflicted  with  punishments,  and  pay  the  penalties  of 
their  former  ills.  Some,  hung  on  high,  are  spread  out  to  the 
empty  winds ;  in  others,  the  guilt  not  done  away  is  washed 
out  in  a  vast  watery  abyss,  or  burned  away  in  fire.  We  each 
endure  his  own  manes,"  thence  are  we  conveyed  along  the 
spacious  Elysium,  and  we,  the  happy  few,  possess  the  fields 
of  bliss ;  till  length  of  time,  after  the  fixed  period  is  elapsed, 
hath  done  away  the  inherent  stain,  and  hath  left  the  pure 
celestial  reason,  and  the  fiery  energy  of  the  simple  spirit. 
All  these,  after  they  have  rolled  away  a  thousand  years,  are 
summoned  forth  by  the  god  in  a  great  body  to  the;  river 
Lethe ;  to  the  intent  that,  losing  memory  [of  the  past],  they 
may  revisit  the  vaulted  realms  above,  and  again  become  will- 
ing to  return  into  bodies.  Anchises  thus  spoke,  and  leads  his 
son,  together  with  the  Sibyl,  into  the  midst  of  the  assembly  and 
noisy  throng ;  thence  chooses  a  rising  ground,  whence  he  may 
survey  them  all  as  they  stand  opposite  to  him  in  a  long  row, 
and  discern  their  looks  as  they  approach. 

60  i.e.  "maria."  SERYIUS.  Of.  Ovid.  Met.  i.  315,  "campus  aqua- 
ruin."  B. 

51  The  sun  is  particularly  meant,  "  Sol,  quern  et  supra  unum  fuiaao  dc 
Titanibus  diximus."  SERVICS. 

M  ».  e.  of  their  proper  nature.     Cf.  Plato  Phsedon.  §  24  and  25      B 

63  See  Servius,  and  Anthon's  note.    B. 


• 
246  ^ENEID.  B.  vi.  151— 781. 

Now  come,  I  will  explain  to  you  what  glory  shall  hence- 
forth attend  the  Trojan  race,  what  descendants  await  them  of 
the  Italian  nation,  distinguished  souls,  and  who  shall  succeed 
to  our  name ;  yourself  too  I  will  instruct  in  your  particular 
fate.  See  you  that  youth  who  leans  on  his  pointless  spear? 
He  by  destiny  holds  a  station  nearest  to  the  light ;  he  shall 
ascend  to  the  upper  world  the  first  [of  your  race]  who  shall 
have  a  mixture  of  Italian  blood  in  his  veins,  Sylvius,"  an 
Alban  name,  your  last  issue  ;  whom  late  your  consort  Lavinia 
shall  in  the  woods  bring  forth  to  you  in  .your  advanced  age, 
himself  a  king,  and  the  father  of  kings;  in  whom  our  line 
shall  reign  over  Alba  Longa.65  The  next  is  Procas,58  the 
glory  of  the  Trojan  nation ;  then  Capys  and  Numitor  follow, 
and  ^Eaeas  Sylvius,  who  shall  represent  thee  in  name,  equally 
distinguished  for  piety  and  arms,  if  ever  he  receive  the  crown 
of  Alba.  See  what  youths  are  these,  what  manly  force  they 
show !  and  bear  their  temples  shaded  with  civic  oak  ;  these  to 
thy  honor  shall  build  Nomentum,"  'Gabii,  and  the  city  Fi- 
dena ;  these  on  the  mountains  shall  raise  the  Collatine  towers,68 
Pometia,  the  fort  of  Inuus,  Bola,  and  Cora.  These  shall  then 
be  famous  names ;  now  they  are  lands  without  names.  Fur- 
ther, martial  Romulus,  whom  Ilia  of  the  line  Assaracus  shall 
bear,  shall  add  himself  as  companion  to  his  grandsire  [Numi- 
tor]. See  you  not  how  the  double  plumes  stand  on  his  head 
erect,  and  how  the  father  of  the  gods  himself  already  marks 

54  Sylvius,  a  son  of  ^Ene.is  by  Lavinia,  from  whom  afterward    the 
kings  of  Alba  were  called  Sylvii.     Lavinia,  the  daughter  of  Latinus  and 
Amata,  who  was  betrothed  to  her  relation,  king  Turnus,  but  was,  after 
his  death,  given  to  ^Eneas. 

55  Alba  Longa,  a  city  of  Latium,  built  by  Ascanius. 

68  Procas,  a  king  of  Alba,  father  of  Numitor  and  Amulius.  Numitor, 
the  father  of  Rhea  Silvia,  and  grandfather  of  Romulus  and  Remus,  who 
restored  him  to  his  throne,  from  which  he  had  been  expelled  by  Amulius, 
his  younger  brother. 

67  Nomentum  (La  Mentana),  a  town  of  the  Sabines  in  Italy.      Cabii, 
a  city  of  the  Volsci,  between  Rome  and  Pranesta,  where  Juno  was  wor- 
shiped, who  was  hence  called  Gabina.     Fidena,  a  town  of  the  Sabines, 
on  the  Tiber,  north  of  Rome. 

68  Collatine  towers :  Collatia,  a  town  of  the  Sabines,  on  the  river  Anio, 
built  on  an  eminence.     Pometia,  a  town  of  the  Volsci,  which  was  totally 
destroyed  by  the  Romans  because  it  had  revolted.     Inuus,  a  town  of 
Latium,  on  the  shores  of  the  Tyrrhene  Sea,     Bola,  a  city  between  Tibur 
and  Prajneste.     Cora,  a  town  of  Latium,  on  the  confines  of  the  Volsci, 
built  by  a  colony  of  Dardanians  before  the  foundation  of  Rome. 


B.  TI.  782  —  812.  ^ENEID.  247 

him  out  with  his  distinguished  honors  !  Lo,  my  sou,  under 
his  auspicious  influence  Rome,  that  city  of  renown,  shall  meas- 
ure her  dominion  by  the  earth,  and  her  valor  by  the  skies, 
and  that  one  city  shall  for  herself  wall  around  seven  strong 
hills,  happy  in  a  race  of  heroes  ;  like  mother  Berecynthia, 
when,  crowned  with  turrets,  she  rides  in  her  chariot  through 
the  Phrygian  towns,  joyful  in  a  progeny  of  gods,  embracing  a 
hundred  grandchildren,  all  inhabitants  of  heaven,  all  seated  in 
the  high  celestial  abodes.  This  way  now  bend  both  your 
eyes  ;  view  this  lineage,  and  your  own  Romans.  This  is 
Caesar,  and  these  are  the  whole  race  of  lulus,69  who  shall  one 
day  rise  to  the  spacious  axle  of  the  sky.  This,  this  is  the 
man  whom  you  have  often  heard  promised*  to  you,  Augustus 
Caesar,  the  offspring  of  a  god  ;  who  once  more  shall  establish 
the  golden  age  in  Latium,  through  those  lands  where  Saturn 
reigned  of  old,  and  shall  extend  his  empire  over  the  Gara- 
mantes  and  Indians  :  their  land  lies  without  the  signs  [of  the 
zodiac],  beyond  the  sun's  annual  course,  where  Atlas,  sup- 
porting heaven  on  his  shoulders,  turns  the  axle  studded  with 
flaming  stars.  Against  his  approach  even  now  both  the  Cas- 
pian60 realms  and  the  land  about  the  Palus  Mseotis  are  dread- 
fully dismayed  at  the  responses  of  the  gods,  and  the  quaking 
mouths  of  seven-fold  Nile  hurry  on  their  troubled  waves. 
Even  Hercules  did  not  run  over  so  many  countries,  though  he 
transfixed  the  brazen-footed  hind,  quelled  the  forests  of  Ery- 
manthus,  and  made  Lerna  tremble  with  his  bow  :  nor  Bac- 
chus, who  in  triumph  drives  his  car  with  reins  wrapped  about 
with  vine  leaves,  driving  the  tigers  from  Nyssa's"  lofty  top. 
And  doubt  we  yet  to  extend  our  glory  by  our  deeds  ?  or  is  fear 
a  bar  to  our  settling  in  the  Ausonian  land  ? 

But  who  is  he  at  a  distance,  distinguished  by  the  olive 
boughs,  bearing  the  sacred  utensils  ?  I  know  the  locks  and 
hoary  beard  of  the  Roman  king,  who  first  shall  establish  this 
city  by  laws,  sent  from  little  Cures02  and  a  poor  estate  to  vast 

**  lulus,  a  name  given  to  Ascanius. 

00  Caspian  realms,  the  Scythian  nations  inhabiting  the  borders  of  the 
Caspian  Sea.  Palus  Maeotis,  Sea  of  Asoph. 

61  Nyssa,  the  name  of  several  cities  in  various  quarters  of  the  world, 
sacred  to  Bacchus. 

61  Cures,  a  town  of  the  Sabines  :  it  was  the  birth-place  of  Numa  Pom- 
pilius,  the  second  king  of  Rome,  a  monarch  distinguished  by  his  love  of 
peace.  Numa  was  succeeded  by  Tullus  Hostilius,  who  was  of  a  warlike 


248  JENEID.  B.  vi.  815—831 

empire.  Whom  Tullus  shall  next  succeed,  who  shall  break 
the  peace  of  his  country,  and  rouse  to  arms  his  inactive  sub- 
jects, and  troops  now  unused  to  triumphs.  Whom  follows 
next  vain-glorious  Ancus,  even  now  too  much  rejoicing  in  the 
breath  of  popular  applause.  Will  you  also  see  the  Tarquin 
kings,  and  the  haughty  soul  of  Brutus,83  the  avenger  [of  his 
country's  wrongs],  and  the  recovered  fasces  ?"  He  first  shall 
receive  the  consular  power,  and  the  ax  of  justice  inflexibly 
severe ;  and  the  sire  shall,  for  the  sake  of  glorious  liberty, 
summon  to  death  his  own  sons,  raising  an  unknown65  kind  of 
war.  Unhappy  he  !  however  posterity  shall  interpret  that 
action,  love  to  his  country,  and  the  unbounded  desire  of 
praise,  will  [prevail  over  paternal  affection.]06  See  besides  at 
some  distance  the  Decii,  Drusi,"  Torquatus,"  inflexibly  se- 
vere with  the  ax,68  and  Camillus  recovering  the  standards. 
But  those  [two]  ghosts  whom  you  observe  to  shine  in  equal 
arms,  in  perfect  friendship  now,  and  while  they  remain  shut 
up  in  night,  ah  !  what  war,  what  battles  and  havoc  will  they 
between  them  raise,  if  once  they  have  attained  to  the  light  of 
life  !  the  father-in-law  descending  from  the  Alpine  hills,  and 
the  tower  of  Monoecus  ;70  the  son-in-law  furnished  with  the 

disposition.  Ancus  Martius,  the  grandson  of  Numa,  was  tho  fourth  king 
of  Rome  after  the  death  of  Tullus :  ho  inherited  the  valor  of  Romulus, 
with  the  moderation  of  Numa,  and  after  a  reign  of  twenty-four  years, 
was  succeeded  by  Tarquin  the  elder. 

83  Brutus  (L.  Junius),  son  of  M.  Junius  and  Tarquinia,  second  daugh- 
ter of  Tarquin  Priscus.  He  was  the  chief  instrument  in  expelling  the 
Tarquins  from  Rome,  thus  avenging  Lucretia's  violated  honor,  to  which 
he  had  sworn, 

64  i.  e.  the  government.     B. 

65  Civil  war  being  previously  unknown  in  Rome.     B. 

68  Alluding  to  the  punishment  of  his  sons  for  attempting  the  restora- 
tion of  Tarquin. 

67  Drusus,  the  surname  of  the  Roman  family  of  the  Livii,  of  which 
was  Livia  Brasilia,  the  wife  of  Augustus. 

6"  Torquatus,  a  surname  of  Titus  Manlius,  a  celebrated  Roman,  whose 
severity  in  putting  to  death  his  son,  because  he  had  engaged  the  enemy 
without  his  permission,  though  he  had  gained  an  honorable  victory,  has 
been  deservedly  censured. 

89  i.  e.  strict  in  exacting  justice.    B. 

70  Monoecus,  a  maritime  town  on  the  south-west  coast  of  Liguria, 
where  Hercules  had  a  temple.  The  two  warriors  here  referred  to  are 
Julius  Cassar  and  his  son-in-law,  Pompey  the  Great.  The  civil  war  be- 
tween Caesar  and  Pompey,  which  terminated  with  the  battle  of  Pharsalia, 
B.  c.  48,  led  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  republic. 


B.  vi.  832—847.  ^NEID.  249 

troops  of  the  east  to  oppose  him.  Make  not,  my  sons,  make 
not  such  [unnatural]  wars  familiar  to  your  minds  ;  nor  turn 
the  powerful  strength  of  your  country  against  its  bowels. 
And  thou  [Caesar],  first  forbear,  thou  who  derivest  thy  ori- 
gin from  heaven ;  fling  those  arms  out  of  thy  hand,  O  thou, 
my  own  blood !  That  one,  having  triumphed  over  Corinth,71 
shall  drive  his  chariot  victorious  to  the  lofty  Capitol,  illus- 
trious from  the  slaughter  of  Greeks.  The  other  shall  over- 
throw Argos,  and  Mycenae,  Agamemnon's  seat,  and  Eacides™ 
himself,  the  descendant  of  valorous  Achilles ;  avenging  his 
Trojan  ancestors,  and  the  violated  temple  of  Minerva.  "Who 
can  in  silence  pass  over  thee,  great  Cato,73  or  thee,  Cossus  ?74 
who  the  family  of  Gracchus,'*  or  both  the  Scipios,"  those  two 
thunderbolts  of  war,  the  bane  of  Africa,  and  Fabricius  in  low 
fortune  exalted?"  or  thee,  Serranus,78  sowing  in  the  furrow 
[which  thy  own  hands  had  made]  ?  Whither,  ye  Fabii,79  do 
you  hurry  me  tired?  Thou  art  that  [Fabius  justly  styled] 
the  Greatest,  who  alone  shall  'repair  our  state  by  delay. 

71  Corinth,  the  capital  of  Achaia  in  Greece,  was  situated  on  the  isthmus, 
between  the  Corinthian  and  Saronic  gulfs.  This  famous  city  was  totally 
destroyed  by  L.  Mummius  the  Eoman  consul,  B.  c.  146. 

7a  ^Eacides  is  here  applied  to  Perseus,  king  of  Macedon,  who  was  de- 
scended from  Achilles,  the  grandson  of  ^Eacus.  Perseus  was  totally  de- 
feated and  taken  prisoner  by  Paulus  ^Emilius,  the  Roman  consul,  in  the 
battle  of  Pydna,  B.  c.  168.  Soon  after  this  period,  the  whole  of  Greece 
fell  under  the  Roman  power. 

73  Cato,  surnamed  Uticensis,  great-grandson  of  Cato  the  censor,  was 
distinguished  for  his  integrity  and  justice.     To  prevent  his  falling  into 
the  hands  of  Caesar,  he  stabbed  himself  after  he  had  read  Plato's  treatise 
on  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,  at  Utica,  in  Africa,  whither  he  had  fled, 
B.  C.  46. 

74  Cossus,  a  military  tribune,  who  killed   Tolumnus,  king  of  Veii,  in 
battle,  and  was  the  second  who  obtained  the  spolia  opima,  which  he 
offered  to  Jupiter. 

75  Gracchus,  T.  Sempronius,  was  distinguished  both  in  the  senate  and 
the  field ;  he  was  the  father  of  Tiberius  and  Caius  Gracchus. 

70  Scipios;  both  the  father  and  son  are  meant. 

77  Fabricius,  C.  L.,  a  celebrated  Roman,  the  conqueror  of  Pyrrhus, 
king  of  Epirus,  was  remarkable  for  the  great  simplicity  of  his  manners 
and  contempt  of  luxury  and  riches.     DAVIDSON.     Cf.  Lucan,  x.  161, 
"et  nomina  pauperis  sevi  Fabricios  Curiosque  graves."     B. 

78  Serranus,  a  surname  given  to  Cincinnatus,  who  was  found  sowing 
his  fields  when  informed  that  the  Senate  had  chosen  him  dictator. 

79  Fabii,  a  noble  and  powerful  family  at  Rome,  of  whom  sprung  Quin- 
tus  Fabius,  the  opponent  of  Hannibal. 

11* 


250  2ENEID.  B.  vi.  848—883. 

Others,  I  grant  indeed,  shall  with  more  delicacy  mold  the 
breathing  brass ;  from  marble  draw  the  features  to  the  life ; 
plead  causes  better ;  describe  with  the  rod  the  courses  of  the 
heavens,  and  explain  the  rising  stars  :  to  rule  the  nations  with 
imperial  sway  be  thy  care,  O  Romans  ;  these  shall  be  thy  arts  ; 
to  impose  terms  of  peace,  to  spare  the  humbled,  and  crush  the 
proud. 

Thus  father  Anchises,  and,  as  they  are  wondering,  sub- 
joins :  Behold  how  adorned  with  triumphal  spoils  Marcellus80 
stalks  along,  and  shines  victor  above  the  heroes  all  ?  He, 
mounted  on  his  steed,  shall  prop  the  Roman  state  in  the  rage 
of  a  formidable  insurrection  ;  the  Carthaginians  he  shall  hum- 
ble, and  the  rebellious  Gaul,  and  dedicate  to  father  Quirinus 
the  third  spoils.  And  upon  this  ^Eneas  [says]  ;  for  he  beheld 
marching  with  him  a  youth  distinguished  by  his  beauty  and 
shining  arms,  but  his  countenance  of  little  joy,  and  his  eyes 
sunk  and  dejected : (What  youth  is  he,  O  father,  who  thus 
accompanies  the  hero  as  he  walks  ?  is  he  a  son,  or  one  of  the 
illustrious  line  of  his  descendants  ?  What  bustling  noise  of 
attendants  round  him  !  How  great  resemblance  in  him  [to 
the  other]  !  but  sable  Night  with  her  dreary  shade  hovers 
around  his  head.  Then  father  Anchises,  while  tears  gushed 
forth,  began  :  Seek  not,  my  son,  [to  know]  the  deep  disaster 
of  thy  kindred ;  him  the  Fates  shall  just  show  on  earth,  nor 
suffer  long  to  exist.  Ye  gods,  Rome's  sons  had  seemed  too 
powerful  in  your  eyes,  had  these  your  gifts  been  permanent. 
What  groans  of  heroes  shall  that  field  near  the  imperial  city 
of  Mars  send  forth  !  what  funeral  pomp  shall  you,  O  Tiberinus, 
see,  when  you  glide  by  his  recent  tomb !  Neither  shall 
any  youth  of  the  Trojan  line  in  hope  exalt  the  Latin  fathers 
so  high ;  nor  shall  the  land  of  Romulus  ever  glory  so  much 
in  any  of  her  sons.  Ah  piety !  ah  that  faith  of  ancient 
times !  and  that  right  hand  invincible  in  war !  none  with 
impunity  had  encountered  him  in  arms,  either  when  on  foot 
he  rushed  upon  the  foe,  or  when  he  pierced  with  his  spur  his 
foaming  courser's  flanks.  Ah  youth,  meet  subject  for  pity ! 

80  Marcellus,  Marcus  Claudius,  a  famous  Roman  general,  signalized 
himself  against  the  Gauls,  having  obtained  the  spolia  opima,  by  killing 
with  his  own  hand  their  king,  Viridomarus.  After  achieving  the  con- 
quest of  Syracuse,  he  was  opposed  in  the  field  to  Hannibal,  but  perished 
in  an  ambuscade. 


B.  vi.  884— 902.     vil.  1,2.        ^BNEID.  251 

if  by  any  means  thou  canst  burst  rigorous  fate,  thou  shalt  be 
a  Marcellus.81  Give  me  lilies  in  handfuls ;  let  me  strew  the 
blooming  flowers ;  these  offerings  at  least  let  me  heap  upon 
my  descendant's  shade,  and  discharge  this  unavailing  duty./ 
Thus  up  and  down  they  roam  through  all  the  [Elysian]  re- 
gions in  spacious  airy  fields,  and  survey  every  object :  through 
each  of  whom  when  Anchises  had  conducted  his  son,  and  fired 
his  soul  with  the  love  of  coming  fame,  he  next  recounts  to  the 
hero  what  wars  he  must  hereafter  wage,  informs  him  of  the 
Laurentine  people,  and  of  the  city  of  Latinus,82  and  by  what 
means  he  may  shun  or  surmount  every  toil. 

Two  gates  there  are  of  Sleep,  whereof  the  one  is  said  to 
be  of  horn ;  by  which  an  easy  egress  is  given  to  true  visions ; 
the  other  shining,  wrought  of  white  ivory ;  but  [through  it] 
the  infernal  gods  send  up  false  dreams  to  the  upper  world. 
When  Anchises  had  addressed  this  discourse  to  his  son  and  the 
Sibyl  together,  and  dismissed  them  by  the  ivory  gate,83  the  hero 
speeds  his  way  to  the  ships,  and  revisits  his  friends  ;  then  steers 
directly  along  the  coast  for  the  port  of  Cai'eta  :84  where  [when 
he  had  arrived],  the  anchor  is  thrown  out  from  the  forecastle, 
the  sterns  rest  upon  the  shore. 


BOOK  VH. 

In  the  Seventh  Book,  JSneas  reaches  the  destined  land  of  Latium,  and 
concludes  a  treaty  with  the  king  Latinus,  who  promises  him  his  only 
daughter  Lavinia  in  marriage  ;  the  treaty  is,  however,  soon  broken  by  the 
interference  of  Juno,  whose  resentment  still  pursues  the  Trojans.  The 
goddess  excites  Turnus  to  war,  who  calls  to  his  aid  the  neighboring  princes ; 
and  the  book  concludes  with  an  animated  description  of  the  enemy's  forces^ 
and  their  respective  chiefs. 

THOU,  too,  Caieta,  nurse  to  ^Eneas,  gavest  to  our  coasts 
immortal   fame  by  thy  death ;    and  now  thy  honor  here  re- 

81  Marcellus,  the  son  of  Octavio,  the  sister  of  Augustus.     He  married 
Julia,  the  emperor's  daughter,  and  was  intended  for  his  successor,  but 
died  suddenly  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen.    Virgil  procured  himself  great 
favors  by  celebrating  the  virtues  of  this  amiable  prince. 

82  City  Of  Latinus ;    Laurentum  (Paterno),  which  was  the  capital  of 
Latium  in  the  reign  of  Latinus. 

83  Hence  "Warburton  concluded  that  Virgil  meant  the  whole  episode 
to  be  regarded  only  as  a  dream  of  the  initiated.     Too  much  ingenuity  has 
been  wasted  on  the  subject.    B. 

84  Caieta  (Gseta),  a  seaport  town  of  Latium  in  Italy. 


252  ^ENEID.  B.  vn.  3—36. 

sides,1  and  thy  name  marks  thy  remains  [interred]  in  Hesperia 
the  great,  if  that  be  any  title  to  renown.  And  now  that  her 
funeral  obsequies  in  due  form  were  paid,  and  the  mound  of 
the  tomb  raised,  pious  y£neas,  soon  as  the  swelling  seas  were 
hushed,  sails  on  his  course,  and  leaves  the  port.  The  gales 
breathe  fair  toward  the  approach  of  night ;  nor  does  the  silver 
moon  "oppose  his  voyage  ;  under  her  trembling  light  the  ocean 
shines.  They  skim  along  the  coasts  adjacent  to  Circe's2  land  : 
where  with  incessant  song  the  wealthy  daughter  of  the  Sun 
makes  her  inaccessible  groves  resound,  and  in  her  proud  pal- 
ace burns  fragrant  cedar  for  nocturnal  lights,  running  over 
the  slender  web  with  her  shrill-sounding  shuttle.  Hence  were 
distinctly  heard  groans,  the  rage  of  lions  reluctant  to  their 
chains,  and  roaring  at  the  late  midnight  hour :  bristly  boars 
and  bears  were  raging  in  their  stalls,  and  wolves  of  prodigious 
form  howled ;  whom  Circe,  cruel  goddess,  had  by  her  power- 
ful herbs  transformed  from  human  shape  into  the  features 
and  limbs  of  wild  beasts  :  which  monstrous  changes  that  the 
pious  Trojans  might  not  undergo,  if  carried  to  that  poit,  nor 
land  on  those  accursed  shores,  Neptune  filled  their  sails  with 
favoring  winds,  and  sped  their  flight,  and  wafted  them  be- 
yond the  boiling  shoals.  And  now  the  sea  began  to  reddtn 
with  the  beams  of  the  sou,  and  from  the  lofty  sky  the  ssffrou- 
colored  morn  shone  in  her  rosy  car,  when  on  a  sudden  the 
winds  grew  still,  every  breath  of  air  died  away,  and  the  oars3 
struggle  on  the  smooth  surface  of  the  lazy  main.  And  here, 
from  the  deep,  ^Eneas  espies  a  spacious  grove.  Through  this 
Tiberinus,  [god]  of  the  pleasant  river  Tiber,  with  rapid  whirls 
and  vast  quantities  of  yellow  sand  discolored,  bursts  forwaid 
into  the  sea.  All  around,  and  over-head,  various  birds,  accus- 
tomed to  the  banks  and  channel  of  the  river,  charmed  the  skies 
with  their  songs,  and  fluttered  up  and  down  the  grove.  [Hither 
^Eneas]  commands  his  mates  to  bend  their  course,  and  turn 
their  prows  toward  land ;  and  with  joy  he  enters  the  shady 
river. 


1  Literally,  "thy  honor  preserves  its  abiding-place."  Others  take 
"  sedens"  as  equivalent  to  "  sepulchrum."  B. 

3  Quos  hominum  ex  facie.  Circe  is  said  to  have  transformed  men  into 
wild  beasts,  by  means  of  certain  herbs,  with  a  magical  wand,  with  which 
she  touched  them.  The  fable  is  taken  from  Homer,  Odyss.  x.  135. 

*  "tonsae,"scil.  "  arbores,"  used  for  oars.     B. 


B  VIL  37—62.  ufENEID.  253 

Come  now,  Erato  ;4  I  will  unfold,  who  were  the  kings, 
what  the  complexion5  of  the  times,  what  the  state  of  things  in 
ancient  Latium,  when  this  foreign  army  first  landed  their  fleet 
on  the  Ausonian  coasts ;  and  trace  back  the  original  of  the 
rising  war.  Do  thou,  O  goddess,  do  thou  instruct  thy  poet, 
I  will  sing  of  horrid  wars,  and  kings  by  their  fierce  pas- 
sions driven  to  destruction,  the  Tuscan  troops,  and  all  Hes- 
peria  in  arms  combined.  A  greater  series  of  incident  lises  to 
my  view  ;  in  a  more  arduous  task  I  engage.  King  Latinus,' 
now  full  of  days,  ruled  the  country  and  its  cities  quiet  in  a 
lasting  peace.  This  prince,  as  we  traditionally  receive,  was 
the  ofl'spring  of  Faunus  and  Marica,  a  Laurentine  nymph. 
Faunus  had  Picus7  for  his  sire ;  and  he,  0  Saturn,  claims 
thee  for  his :  thou  art  the  remotest  author  of  the  line.  To 
him  (Latinus),  by  the  appointment  of  the  gods,  no  son,  no 
male  issue  remained ;  but  one,  just  as  he  grew  up,  was 
snatched  away  in  the  opening  bloom  of  youth.  An  only 
daughter  was  to  preserve  his  line,  and  so  large  possessions, 
now  arrived  at  maturity,  and  fully  ripe  for  marriage.  Many 
from  wide  Latium,  and  throughout  Ausonia,  sought  her  hand  : 
Turnus8  makes  his  addresses,  in  charms  far  surpassing  all  the 
rest,  and  powerful  in  ancestors  for  many  generations ;  whom 
the  royal  consort,  with  wonderful  eagerness,  urged  to  have  unit- 
ed to  the  family  as  her  son-in-law  :  but  prodigies  from  heaven, 
with  various  circumstances  of  terror,  oppose.  In  the  center  of 
the  palace,  within  the  deep  recesses  of  the  inner  court,  stood  a 
laurel,  with  sacred  locks,  and  for  many  years  preserved  with 
awe :  which  king  Latinus  having  discovered  when  he  was 
raising  the  first  towers  of  his  palace,  was  said  to  have  conse- 

4  Erato,  one  of  the  Muses,  who  presided  over  lyric,  tender,  and  ama- 
tory poetry. 

5  "  tempera"  refers  to  the  condition  of  the  different  states  in  their 
mutual  relations ;  "  status  "  to  the  independent  condition  of  each  respect- 
ively.    B. 

6  Latinus,  the  son  of  Faunus,  and  king  of  the  aborigines  in  Italy,  who 
from  him  were  called  Latins.   He  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  of  Latium 
by  JEneas,  who  married  his  daughter  Lavinia. 

7  Picus,  a  son  of  Saturn,  and  father  of  Faunus,  reigned  in  Latium,  and 
was  feigned  to  have  been  changed  by  Circe  into  a  woodpecker. 

6  Turnus,  son  of  Daunus  and  Venilia,  and  king  of  the  Rutuli,  in  Italy. 
He  made  war  against  Mneas,  who  was  his  rival  for  the  hand  of  Lavinia, 
daughter  of  king  Latinus,  but  was  defeated,  and  at  last  slain  by  _<Eneaa 
in  single  combat. 


254  ^ENEID.  B.  vii.  63—98. 

crated  to  Phoebus,  and  from  it  to  have  given  the  name  of 
Laurentines  to  the  inhabitants.  On  the  high  summit  of  this 
tree  thick  clustering  bees,  strange  to  hear,  wafted  athwart  the 
liquid  sky  with  a  great  humming  noise,  planted  themselves ; 
and,  having  linked  their  feet  together  by  a  mutual  hold,  the 
swarm  hung  in  a  surprising  manner  from  the  leafy  bough. 
Forthwith  the  prophet  said,  We  behold  a  foreign  hero  hither 
advancing,  and  an  army  making  toward  the  same  parts 
[where  the  bees  alight],  from  the  same  parts  [whence  they 
came],  and  bearing  sway  in  the  lofty  palace.  Again,  while 
with  holy  torches  the  virgin  Lavinia  kindles  the  altars,  and  is 
standing  by  her  sire,  she  seemed,  O  horrid !  to  catch  the  fire 
in  her  long  flowing  hair,  and  to  have  her  whole  attire  con- 
sumed in  the  crackling  flames,  all  in  a  blaze  both  as  to  her 
royal  locks  and  crown  rich  with  gems :  then  in  clouds  of 
smoke,  [she  seemed]  to  be  involved  in  ruddy  light,  and  to 
spread  the  conflagration  over  the  whole  palace.  As  to  this,  it 
was  reputed  terrible,  and  of  astonishing  aspect :  for  [the 
soothsayers]  foretold,  that  Lavinia  herself  would  be  illustrious, 
both  in  fame  and  fortune,  but  threatened  her  people  with  a  great 
war. 

But  the  king,  anxious  at  these  portentous  signs,  repairs  to 
the  oracle  of  prophetic  Faunus,  his  sire,  and  consults  his  grove 
beneath  lofty  Albunea,9  which,  of  woods  the  chief,  resounds 
with  a  sacred  fountain,  and  from  its  dark  retreats  sends  forth  a 
pernicious  stream.  Hence  the  Italian  nations,  and  the  whole 
land  of  CEnotria,  seek  responses  when  in  perplexity.  Hither 
\rhen  the  priest  had  brought  offerings,  and  in  the  deep  silence 
of  night  laid  himself  down  on  the  outspread  skins  of  slain  sheep, 
and  disposed  himself  to  sleep ;  he  observes  many  visionary 
forms  fluttering  about  in  a  wondrous  manner,  hears  various 
sounds,  and  enjoys  interviews  with  the  gods,  and  converses  with 
the  manes  in  the  infernal  regions.  Here  even  father  Latinus 
himself,  being  then  in  quest  of  a  response,  with  due  rites  sac- 
rificed an  hundred  fleecy  ewes,  and  lay  supported  on  their  skins 
and  outspread  fleeces.  From  the  deep  grove  a  sudden  voice 
was  delivered  :  Seek  not,  my  son,  to  join  thy  daughter  in  Latin 
wedlock,  nor  rest  thy  hopes  on  the  match  now  designed.  A 
foreigner  comes,  thy  [future]  son-in-law,  who,  by  his  blood, 

"  Albunea,  a  wood  near  the  city  Tibur  and  the  river  Anio,  sacred  to 
the  Musea. 


B.  vn.  98—133.  ^ENEID.  255 

shall  exalt  our  name  to  the  stars,  and  from  whose  race  our  de- 
scendants springing,  shall  see  all  things  reduced  under  their 
feet,  and  ruled  by  their  sway,  where  the  revolving  sun  visits 
either  ocean. 

These  responses  of  father  Faunus,  and  intimations  given  in 
the  silence  of  night,  Latinus  himself  shuts  not  up  within  his 
lips :  but  fame,  fluttering  all  around,  had  now  wafted  the 
tidings  through  the  Ausonian  cities,  when  Laomedon's  sons 
had  moored  their  fleet  to10  the  grassy  rising  bank.  ^Eneas, 
the  chief  leaders,  and  blooming  liilus,  rech'ne  their  bodies  at 
ease  under  the  branches  of  a  tall  tree ;  prepare  their  repast, 
and  under  their  banquet  spread  cakes  of  fine  wheat  along 
the  grass  (so  Jove  himself  admonished),  and  load  the  wheaten 
board  with  woodland  fruits.  Here,  as  it  chanced,  having  con- 
sumed their  other  provisions,  as  want  of  food  compelled  them 
to  turn  their  teeth  to  the  scanty  cake,  and  violate  with  hands 
and  daring  jaws  the  orb  of  the  fated  bread,  nor  spare  its  broad 
quarters :  What !  liilus  says,  are  we  eating  up  tables  too  ? 
nor  carried  his  pleasantry  further.  No  sooner  was  this  remark 
heard  than  it  announced  the  termination  of  their  toils ;  and 
instantly  from  the  speaker's  mouth  his  father  snatched  the 
word,  and  transported  with  admiration  at  the  fulfillment  of  the 
oracle,  mused  awhile.  Forthwith  he  spoke :  Hail,  O  land, 
destined  to  me  by  the  Fates !  and  hail,  ye  gods,  ye  faithful 
tutelar  gods  of  Troy.  This  is  our  home,  this  our  country. 
My  sire  Anchises  (for  now  I  recollect)  bequeathed  to  me  these 
secrets  of  Fate :  When  famine  shall  compel  thee,  my  son, 
wafted  to  an  unknown  shore,  to  eat  up  your  tables  after  your 
provisions  fail,  then  be  sure  you  hope  for  a  settlement  after 
your  toils,  and  there  with  your  own  hand  found  your  first  city, 
and  fortify  it  with  a  rampart.  This  was  that  hunger  [to 
which  he  alluded]  :  these  our  last  calamities  awaited  us,  which 
are  to  put  a  period  to  our  woes.  Come  then,  and  with  the 
sun's  first  light  let  us  joyously  explore  what  places  are  these, 
or  what  men  are  the  inhabitants,  or  where  are  the  cities  of 
the  race ;  and  from  the  port  let  us  pursue  different  ways.  At 
present  pour  forth  bowls  in  libation  to  Jove,  and  by  prayers  in- 

10  Wo  must  observe  that  the  preposition. "ab"  is  used  in  reference  to 
the  place  whence  the  fastening  proceeds.  It  is  omitted  in  Ovid  Met.  13, 
439,  "  Litore  Threicio  classem  religarat  Atrides."  In  Greek  the  con- 
struction is  with  a  dative,  as  Apoll.  Eh.  ii.  177,  yaii)  iraa/iar'  avrj^av.  B. 


256  ^ENEID.  B.  vn.  135—163. 

voke  my  father  AncMses,  and  replace11  the  wine  profusely  on 
the  boards. 

Thus  having  said,  he  binds  his  temples  next  with  a  verdant 
bough,  and  supplicates  the  Genius  of  the  place,  and  Earth, 
the  eldest  of  the  gods,  together  with  the  nymphs  and  rivers  yet 
unknown  ;ia  then  Night,  and  the  night's  rising  constellations, 
Bnd  Idaean  Jove,  and  Phrygian  mother  Cybele,  he  invokes  in 
due  form,  and  both  his  parents,  the  one  in  heaven,  and  the  oth- 
er in  Erebus.18  Upon  this  the  almighty  Sire  thrice  from  the 
lofty  heavens  thundered  aloud,  and  from  the  sky  displays  a 
cloud  refulgent  with  beams  of  golden  light,  brandishing  it  in  his 
hand. 

Here  suddenly  the  rumor  spreads  through  the  Trojan  bands, 
that  the  day  was  arrived  whereon  they  were  to  build  the 
destined  city.  With  emulation  they  renew  the  banquet, 
and,  rejoicing  in  the  mighty  omen,  place  the  bowls,  and  crown 
the  wines.  Soon  as  the  next  day  arisen  had  enlightened  the 
earth  with  its  first  beams,  by  different  ways  they  explore  the 
city,  the  boundaries  and  the  coasts  of  the  nation :  [they  learn 
that]  these  are  the  standing  waters  of  the  fountain  Numicus,14 
this  the  river  Tiber,  that  here  the  valiant  Latins  dwell.  Then 
the  son  of  Anchises  orders  a  hundred  embassadors,  selected 
from  every  rank,15  to  repair  to  the  imperial  palace  of  the  king, 
all  of  them  decked1*  with  Minerva's  boughs;  and  carry  gifts 
to  the  hero,  and  implore  his  peace  toward  the  Trojans. 
Forthwith,  commanded,  they  hasten  and  set  forward  with 
quick  pace.  ./Eneas  himself  marks  out  the  walls  with  a  low 
trench,  and  builds  upon  the  spot,  and  incloses  the  first  settle- 
ment on  the  shore,  in  the  form  of  a  camp,  with  a  parapet  and 
rampart.  And  now  the  youths,  having  measured  out  their 
way,  beheld  the  towers,  and  lofty  structures  of  the  Latins, 
and  approached  the  wall.  Before  the  city,  boys  and  youths 
in  the  bloom  of  early  life  are  exercised  on  horseback,  and 

1  i.  e.  "  renew  the  banquet."    AXTHON. 

J  So  Silius,  vi.  171,  "Intramus  tamen,  et  nymphas  numenque  preca- 
mur  Gurgitis  ignoti."  B. 

3  i.  e.  Venus  and  Anchises.     B. 

*  Now  the  Stagno  di  Levante.  "We  must  not  understand  the  river 
Numicus  near  Lavinium.  B. 

1  Not  "from  all  the  people."     See  Anthon     B. 

8  Compare  the  Greek  e&GTEfiftEvoi.  The  garlands  were  carried  in  the 
hand.  B. 


B.  vil.  163—188.  jEimD.  257 

tame  the  yoked  steeds  on  the  dusty  plain ;  or  bend  the  stiff 
bows,  or,  with  the  exerted  strength  of  their  arms,  hurl  the 
quivering  dart,  and  challenge  one  another  in  the  race  or  to 
pugilism  :  when  a  messenger  riding  before,  bears  the  news  to 
the  aged  king,  that  men  of  huge  dimensions,  in  a  strange  garb, 
were  arrived.  He  orders  them  to  be  invited  into  the  palace, 
and  seated  himself  in  the  midst  on  his  ancient  throne.  On 
the  highest  part  of  the  city  stood  a  magnificent  capacious 
structure,  raised  aloft  on  a  hundred  columns,  the  palace  of 
Picus  of  Laurentum,  awful  for  its  sacred  woods,  and  the  re- 
ligious veneration  of  ancestors.  It  was  [considered]  a  good 
omen  for  the  kings  here  to  receive  the  scepter,  and  raise  the 
first  badges  of  royalty ;  this  temple  was  their  senate-house, 
this  their  apartment  allotted  for  sacred  banquets :  here,  after 
the  sacrifice  of  a  ram,  the  fathers  were  wont  to  take  their  seats 
together  at  the  long  tables.  Besides,  in  the  vestibule,  accord- 
ing to  their  order,  the  statues  of  their  ancestors  in  antique 
cedar  stood;  Italus,17  and  father  Sabinus,  and  old  Saturn,18 
the  planter  of  the  vine,  holding  a  crooked  scythe  under  his 
figure,  and  the  image  of  double-faced  Janus  ;19  and  other 
monaiclis  from  the  origin  [of  the  race],  who  sustained  martial 
wounds  in  fighting  for  their  country.  Besides,  on  the  sacred 
door-posts  many  arms,  captive  chariots,  and  crooked  cimeters, 
are  suspended,  helmet-crests,  and  massy  bars  of  gates,  and 
darts  and  shields,  and  beaks  torn  from  ships.  Picus  himself, 
the  breaker  of  steeds,  sat  with  his  augural  wand,20  dressed  in 

17  Italus,  an  Arcadian  prince,  who  is  said  to  have  established  a  king- 
dom in  Italy,  which  received  its  name  from  him.  Sabinus,  from  whom 
the  Sabines  were  named.  He  received  divine  honors  after  death,  and 
was  one  of  those  deities  whom  JEneas  invoked  when  he  entered  Italy. 

1S  Saturn,  the  son  of  Coalus  and  Terra,  married  his  sister  Ops,  who  is 
also  called  Rhea  and  Cybele.  He  was  dethroned  and  imprisoned  by  his 
brother  Titan,  but  was  restored  to  liberty  and  to  his  throne,  by  his  son 
Jupiter,  who,  however,  afterward  banished  him  from  his  kingdom,  which 
he  divided  with  his  brothers  Neptune  and  Pluto.  Saturn  fled  to  Italy, 
where  his  reign  was  so  mild,  that  mankind  have  called  it  the  golden  age. 

19  Janus,  the  most  ancient  king  of  Italy,  was  a  native  of  Thessaly,  and, 
according  to  some,  the  son  of  Apollo ;  after  death  he  was  ranked  among 
the  gods,  and  is  represented  with  two  faces.     His  temple  at  Rome,  where 
he  was  chiefly  worshiped,  was  always  shut  in  time  of  peace,  and  open 
in  tune  of  war. 

20  This  is  the  ablative  of  manner.     Gellius,  however,  v.  8,  supposes 
an  ellipse ;  others  regard  "  succinctus  lituo"  as  a  zeugma.     B. 


258  ^ENEHX  B.  vn.  189—222. 

his  scanty  tucked-up  robe,  and  in  his  left  hand  wielded  a  little 
target ;  whom  Circe,  his  concubine,  stung  with  desire,  having 
struck  with  her  golden  rod,  and  by  her  spells  transformed, 
made  a  bird,  and  interspersed  his  wings  with  colors. 

Within  such  a  temple  of  the  gods,  and  on  his  ancestral 
throne,  Latinus,  seated,  called  to  him  the  Trojans  into  the 
palace ;  to  whom,  when  they  had  entered,  he,  in  mild  accent, 
first  these  words  addressed :  Say,  ye  sons  of  Dardanus  (for  we 
are  not  unacquainted  with  your  city  or  with  your  race,  nor 
hither  have  you  steered  your  course  unheard  of),  what  seek 
ye?  what  cause,  or  pressing  exigency,  has  wafted  your  fleet 
to  the  Ausonian  coast,  over  such  an  extent  of  azure  seas  1 
Whether  you  have  entered  the  banks  of  our  river,  and  sta- 
tioned yourself  in  our  port,  by  wandering  from  your  way,  or 
driven  by  stress  of  weather  (such  things  as  in  many  shapes 
seamen  suffer  in  the  deep),  decline  not  hospitality,  nor  remain 
strangers  to  the  Latins,  Saturn's  race,  who  practice  equity, 
not  by  constraint  or  laws,  but  from  spontaneous  choice,  and 
regulating  themselves  by  the  conduct  of  that  ancient  god. 
And,  indeed,  I  call  to  mind  (the  tradition  is  somewhat  obscure 
through  length  of  time),  that  the  old  Aurunci"  thus  reported ; 
how  Dardanus,  a  native  of  this  country,  reached  the  Ic'sean 
cities  of  Phrygia,  and  Thracian  Samos,  which  now  is  called 
Samothracia,"  Hence  he  had  set  out  from  his  Tuscan  seat  in 
Corythus ;  now  enthroned,  he  sits  in  the  golden  palace  of  the 
starry  heavens,  and  adds  to  the  number  of  the  altars  of  the 
gods. 

He  said ;  and  Hioneus  made  the  following  reply  :  O  king, 
illustrious  offspring  of  Faunus,  neither  a  grim  storm  forced  us, 
by  billows  harassed,  to  enter  your  realms ;  nor  did  the  stars 
or  the  coast  mislead  us  from  the  course  of  our  voyage.  We 
all  with  design,  and  willing  minds,  are  brought  to  this  city ; 
expelled  from  a  kingdom,  once  the  most  powerful  which  the 
sun  coursing  from  the  extremity  of  heaven  surveyed.  From 
Jove  is  the  origin  of  our  race ;  the  sons  of  Dardanus  rejoice 
in  Jove  their  ancestor.  Our  king  himself,  ^Eneas  the  Tro- 
jan, sprung  from  Jove's  exalted  line,  sent  us  to  your  courts. 
What  a  terrible  storm,  bursting  from  cruel  Mycena?,  hath 


21  Aurunci,  an  ancient  people  of  Latium,  south-east  of  the  Yolsci. 

22  Samothracia,  an  island  in  the  Archipelago,  off  the  coast  of  Thrace. 


B.  vii.  223—259.  ^ENEID.  259 

overrun  the  plains  of  Ida,  under  the  influence  of  what  fates 
both  worlds  of  Europe  and  Asia  engaged ;  even  those  have 
heard,  if  such  there  are,  whom  earth's  extremity  removes  afar, 
the  expanded  ocean  intervening ;  and  those,  if  such  there  are, 
whom  the  regions  of  the  intemperate  sun,  extended  in  the 
midst  of  the  other  four,  divides  [from  the  rest  of  mankind]. 
From  that  deluge  borne  over  so  many  vast  oceans,  we  beg  for 
our  country's  gods  a  small  settlement,  and  a  harmless  shore, 
and  water  and  air,  which  are  open  to  all.  "We  shall  be  no  dis- 
honor to  your  realm  ;  nor  shall  trivial  fame  redound  to  you,  or 
our  grateful .  sense  of  so  generous  an  action  ever  be  effaced; 
nor  shall  the  Ausonians  repent  that  they  received  Troy  into 
their  bosom.  I  swear  by  the  fates  of  ^Eneas,  and  by  his  right 
hand  that  excels,  whether  any  one  has  experienced  it  in  faith, 
or  in  war  and  martial  deeds ;  many  people,  many  nations  (con- 
temn us  not,  because  of  ourselves  we  bring  in  our  hands  the 
wreaths,  and  [in  our  mouths]  the  words  of  suppliants),  have 
not  only  been  willing,  but  courted  us  to  associate  with  them. 
But  the  destiny  of  the  gods,  by  their  commanding  influence, 
compelled  us  to  go  in  quest  of  your  territories.  Dardanus,  who 
sprang  from  this  country,  hither  redemands  his  offspring  ;  and 
Apollo,  by  his  mighty  summons,  urges  us  to  the  Tuscan  Tiber, 
and  the  sacred  streams  of  the  fountain  Numicus."  JEneas  of- 
fers you,  besides,  some  small  presents,  remnants  of  his  former 
fortune,  saved  from  the  flames  of  Troy.  From  this  golden 
bowl  father  Anchises  performed  libations  at  the  altar  :  this  was 
borne  by  Priam,  when  he  gave  laws  in  form  to  the  assembled 
people,  the  scepter,  and  sacred  diadem,  and  the  robes,  the  work 
of  the  Trojan  dames. 

At  these  words  of  Hioneus,  Latinus  keeps  his  countenance 
fixed  in  steady  regard,  and  remains  unmoved  on  the  ground, 
rolling  his  eyes  intent.  Neither  the  embroidered  purple,  nor 
Priam's  scepter,  move  him  so  much,  as  he  muses  on  his  daugh- 
ter's nuptials,  and  deep  in  his  breast  revolves  the  oracles 
of  ancient  Faunus :  [concluding]  that  this  is  he  who,  come 
from  foreign  parts,  by  the  Fates  was  ordained  his  son-in-law, 
and  called  to  the  regal  power  with  equal  sway  :  that  from  him 
a  race  would  come  in  valor  eminent,  and  who,  by  their 
power,  should  master  the  whole  world.  At  length,  with  joy, 
he  says :  May  the  gods  crown  with  success  our  enterprise  and 

23  See  vs.  151,  with  the  note. 


260  ^ENEID.  B.  vil.  2GO— 292. 

their  own  presage.  Trojan,  what  you  demand  shall  be  given  : 
nor  do  I  reject  your  present.  While  Latinus  is  king,  not  the 
fatness  of  a  luxuriant  soil,  nor  the  opulence  of  Troy,  shall  be 
wanting  to  you.  Only  let  ^Eneas  come  in  person,  if  he  has  so 
great  affection  to  us,  if  he  longs  to  be  joined  with  us  in  hospi- 
table league,  and  to  be  called  our  ally ;  nor  let  him  dread  our 
friendly  presence.  .  To  me  it  will  be  an  advance  toward  peace 
to  touch  the  hand  of  your  prince.  Do  you  now,  on  your  part, 
report  these  my  instructions  to  your  king  :  I  have  a  daughter, 
whom  neither  the  oracles  from  my  father's  shrine,  nor  numer- 
ous prodigies  from  heaven,  permit  me  to  match  with  a  husband 
of  our  own  nation ;  they  foretell  that  this  destiny  awaits  Lat- 
ium,  that  its  sons-in-law  shall  come  from  foreign  coasts,  who,  in 
their  descendants,  shall  to  the  stars  exalt  our  name.  That  this 
is  he  whom  the  Fates  ordain  I  both  judge,  and  (if  aught  of 
truth  my  mind  divines)  I  wish  it  too. 

This  said,  the  sire  chooses  out  steeds  from  his  whole  num- 
ber :  in  lofty  stalls,  three  hundred  of  them  stood  in  sleek  ap- 
pearance. Forthwith  for  all  the  Trojans  he  commands  the 
winged  coursers,  caparisoned  with  purple  and  embroidered 
trappings,  to  be  led  forth  in  order.  Golden  poitrels  hang  low 
down  from  their  breasts ;  arrayed  in  gold,  they  champ  the 
yellow  gold  under  their  teeth.  For  the  absent  hero  [he  orders] 
a  chariot,  and  a  pair  of  harnessed  steeds  of  ethereal  breed, 
from  their  nostrils  snorting  fire,  of  the  race  of  those  whom 
crafty  Circe  produced,  when,  having  stolen  [horses]  from  her 
father  [the  Sun],  she  raised  up  a  spurious  breed  by  a  substi- 
tuted mare.  With  these  presents  and  speeches  from  Latinus, 
the  Trojans,  mounted  on  their  steeds,  return,  and  bring  back 
peace. 

But  lo !  the  unrelenting  wife  of  Jove  was  on  her  return 
from  Inachian  Argos,84  and,  wafted  in  her  chariot,  possessed 
the  aerial  regions ;  and,  from  on  high,  at  the  distance  of 
Sicilian  Pachynus,  far  off  she  spied  ./Eneas  full  joyous,  and 
the  Trojan  fleet.  She  sees  [the  Trojans]  already  laboring 
on  the  buildings,  already  settled  in  the  land,  and  that  they 
have  abandoned  their  ships.  Pierced  with  sharp  grief  she 
stood ;  then  tossing  her  head,  she  poured  forth  these  words 

24  Inachian  Argos,  the  capital  of  Argolis,  in  Peloponnesus,  was  so 
called  from  Inachus,  a  son  of  Oceanus  and  Tethys,  who  founded  the 
kingdom  of  Argos. 


13.  vii.  293—319.  J3NEID.  261 

from  her  breast :  Ah !  race  detested,  and  Fates  of  Troy  op- 
posed to  ours !  Was  it  in  the  compass  of  my  power  to  over- 
throw them  to  the  plains  of  Sigseum  ?"  made  captives,  could 
they  be  kept  in  captivity?  when  Troy  was  burned  to  ashes, 
were  they  consumed  ?  through  the  midst  of  armies,  through 
the  midst  of  flames,  have  the}"  then  found  their  way  ?  But, 
I  suppose,  the  power  of  my  divinity,  tired  out  now,  lies  inac- 
tive ;  or  glutted  [with  full  revenge],  I  have  dropped  my  re- 
sentment. Yet,  with  hostile  intention,  I  dared  to  pursue 
them  over  the  waves,  when  they  had  been  driven  out  of  their 
country,  and  on  the  vast  wide  ocean  to  oppose  myself  to  the 
exiles.  The  powers  of  heaven  and  sea  have  been  spent  on  the 
Trojans.  Of  what  avail  to  me  were  the  Syrtes,  or  Scylla,  or 
the  vast  Charybdis  ?  In  Tiber's  wished-for  channel  they  are 
lodged,  secure  against  the  seas  and  me.  Mars  was  able  to 
destroy  the  gigantic  race  of  the  Lapithae ;  the  father  of  the 
gods  himself  gave  up  his  beloved  Calydon55  to  Diana's  re- 
sentment :  what  crime,  either  of  the  Lapitha?,  or  of  Calydon, 
had  deserved  such  severe  punishment  ?  But  I,  the  great  con- 
sort of  Jove,  who  had  power  to  leave  no  means  untried,  who 
had  recourse  to  all  expedients,  unhappy !  am  vanquished  by 
^Eneas.  But  if  my  own  divinity  is  not  powerful  enough, 
surely  I  need  not  hesitate  to  implore  whatever  deity  any 
where  subsists :  if  I  can  not  move  the  powers  above,  I  will 
solicit  those  of  hell.  Grant  I  be  not  pernVlted  to  bar  him 
from  the  kingdom  of  Latium,  and  Laviuia  be  unalterably 
destined  his  spouse  by  fate ;  yet  I  may  protract,  and  throw 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  those  mighty  events ;  yet  I  may  cut 
off  the  subjects  of  both  kings.  With  this  costly  price  of  their 
people's  blood,  let  the  father  and  son-in-law  unite.  Thy 
dowry,  virgin,  shah1  be  paid  in  Trojan  and  Rutulian  blood ; 
and  Bellona"  waits  thee  for  thy  bride's-maid :  nor  did  teem- 

25  Sigaeum,  see  note29,  JEneid,  Book  II.  p.  138. 

28  Calydon,  a  city  of  jEtolia  in  Greece,  where  CEnens,  the  father  of 
Meleager,  reigned.  The  king  having  neglected  to  pay  homage  to  Diana, 
the  goddess  sent  a  wild  boar  to  ravage  the  country,  which  at  last  was 
killed  by  Meleager.  All  the  princes  of  the  age  assembled  to  hunt  this 
boar,  which  event  is  greatly  celebrated  by  the  poets,  under  the  name  of 
the  Chase  of  Calydon,  or  of  the  Calydonian  Boar. 

27  Bellona,  the  goddess  of  war,  daughter  of  Phorcys  and  Ceto,  and, 
according  to  some,  the  sister  and  wife  of  Mars. 


262  ^ENEID.  B.  VIL  320—350. 

ing  Hecuba*8  alone,  impregnated  with  a  firebrand,  bring  forth 
a  blazing  nuptial  torch  ;  to  Venus  too  this  production  of  hers 
shall  prove  the  same,  even  a  second  Paris,  and  a  firebrand  fatal 
to  Troy  again  tottering  to  its  fall. 

Having  uttered  these  words,  dreadful  down  to  earth  she 
plunged.  From  the  mansions  of  the  dire  sisters,  and  the  in- 
fernal glooms,  she  calls  up  baleful  Alecto ;  whose  heart's  de- 
light are  rueful  wars,  strifes,  and  deceits,  and  noxious  crimes. 
Her  even  her  father,  Pluto's  self,  abhors,  her  hellish  sisters 
abhor  the  monster ;  into  so  many  shapes  she  turns  herself,  so 
hideous  are  her  forms,  with  so  many  snakes  the  grim  Fury 
sprouts  up.  Whom  Juno  stimulates  with  these  words,  and 
thus  addresses  :  Virgin,  offspring  of  Night,  perform  me  this 
task,  this  service,  your  own  peculiar  province  ;  that  our  honor 
and  wounded  fame  be  not  quite  baffled,  nor  the  JEnean  race 
be  able  fawningly  to  circumvent  Latinus  by  this  match,  or 
take  possession  of  the  Italian  territories.  Thou  canst  arm 
to  war  the  most  cordial  brothers,  and  by  animosities  embroil 
families :  thou  canst  introduce  into  houses  scourges  and  fire- 
brands of  death  ;  with  thee  are  a  thousand  specious  pretexts,  a 
thousand  arts  of  doing  mischief :  ransack  thy  fruitful  bosom, 
unhinge  the  established  peace,  sow  crimes  that  lead  to  war ; 
let  the  youth  incline  to,  and  at  once  demand  and  snatch  up 
arms. 

Forthwith  Alecto,  infected  with  Gorgonian  poisons,  repairs 
first  to  Latium,  and  the  lofty  palace  of  the  Laurentine  mon- 
arch, and  took  possession  of  Amata's29  silent  gate ;  in  whose 
inflamed  breast  female  cares  and  angry  commotions  kept  dis- 
quieting30 on  account  of  the  arrival  of  the  Trojans  and  the 
match  with  Turnus.  At  her  the  goddess  flings  from  her  dark 
locks  one  of  her  snakes,  and  plunges  it  deep  in  her  bosom 
down  to  its  inmost  recesses,  that,  by  the  monster,  driven  to 
fury,  she  may  embroil  the  whole  family.  He,  sliding  between 
her  robes  and  smooth  breast,  rolls  on  with  imperceptible  touch, 


23  Hecuba,  daughter  of  Dymas,  a  Phrygian  prince,  or,  according  to 
others,  of  Cisseus,  a  Thracian  king,  was  the  second  wife  of  Priam,  king 
of  Troy,  and  the  mother  of  Paris. 

89  Amata,  the  wife  of  king  Latimus :  she  zealously  favored  the  in- 
terest of  Turnus  against  JSneas. 

30  So  "  coquit"  is  used  in  Ennius  apud  Cic.  de  Sen.  i.  "  curamve  le- 
vasso,  Quse  nunc  te  coquit.  B. 


B.  vii.  351—383.  ^ENEID.  263 

and,  in  the  transport  of  her  rage,  steals  on  her  unawares,  in- 
fusing into  her  a  viperish  soul :  the  huge  snake  becomes  a 
chain  of  wreathed  gold  around  her  neck,  he  becomes  a  long 
winding  fillet,  and  entwines  her  hair,  and  in  slippery  mazes 
creeps  over  her  limbs.  And  while  the  first  infection,  down- 
ward gliding,  with  its  humid  poison  attacks  her  senses,  and 
blends  the  mingling  fire  with  her  bones/,  and  while  her  mind 
has  not  yet  felt  the  flame  throughout  her  bosom ;  she  spoke 
Avith  softer  accents,  and  in  the  wonted  manner  of  mothers, 
making  many  a  heavy  lamentation  about  her  daughter  and  the 
Phrygian  match  :  And  is  Lavinia  given  in  marriage  to  Trojan 
exiles  ?  and  have  you,  her  father,  no  pity  on  your  daughter, 
or  on  yourself,  or  on  her  mother,  whom  with  the  first  fair 
wind31  the  perfidious  pirate  will  abandon,  and  return  to  sea, 
carrying  off  the  virgin  ?  And  did  not  the  Phrygian  shepherd 
thus  steal  into  Lacedaemon,  and  bear  away  Leda's  daughter, 
Helen,  to  the  Trojan  city  ?  What  becomes  of  your  solemnly 
plighted  faith,  your  ancient  regard  for  your  people,  and  your 
right  hand  so  often  plighted  to  your  kinsman  Turnus  ?  If  the 
Latins  must  have  a  son-in-law  from  a  foreign  nation,  and  this 
be  determined,  and  the  commands  of  your  father  Faunus  press 
you,  for  my  part  I  reckon  every  land  foreign,  which,  inde- 
pendent, is  disjointed  from  our  dominion,  and  that  thus  the 
gods  intend.  And  (if  the  first  origin  of  his  family  be  traced 
back)  Turnus  has  Inachus  and  Acrisius33  for  his  progenitors, 
and  Mycenae,  the  heart  [of  Greece  for  his  country]. 

When,  having  tried  him  by  these  words  in  vain,  she  finds 
Latinus  resolutely  fixed  against  her,  and  the  serpent's  infuri- 
ated poison  had  now  sunk  deep  into  her  bowels,  and  crept 
through  all  her  frame ;  then,  indeed,  in  wretched  disorder, 
startled  by  hideous  monsters,  she  rages  frantic  with  unex- 
ampled fury  through  the  ample  bounds  of  the  city :  as  at  times 
a  whip-top  whirling  under  the  twisted  lash,  which  boys  intent 
on  their  sport  drive  in  a  large  circuit  round  some  empty  court ; 
the  engine  driven  about  by  the  scourge  is  hurried  round  and 
round  in  circlii.;  courses ;  the  unpracticed  throng  and  beard- 
less  band  are  lost  in  admiration  of  the  voluble  box-wood  : 

31  The  north  wind  would  be  favorable  to  a  departure  from  Italy.     B. 

32  Acrisius,  king  of  Argos,  was  descended  from  Inachus,  its  founder, 
and  was  one  of  Turnus'  ancestors.     He  was  accidently  slain  by  hia  grand- 
son Perseus. 


264  J3NEID.  B.  vn.  384 — 420 

they  lend  their  souls  to  the  stroke.  With  no  less  impetuous 
career  is  the  queen  driven  through  the  midst  of  cities,  and 
among  crowds  all  in  fierce  commotion.  Aiming  even  at  a 
more  atrocious  deed,  and  ushering  in  a  higher  scene  of  mad- 
ness, having  counterfeited  the  enthusiasm  of  Bacchus,  she 
flies  out  into  the  forest,  and  conceals  her  daughter  in  the 
woody  mountains,  that  from  the  Trojans  she  may  wrest  the 
match,  and  retard  the  nuptials:  exclaiming,  Evoe  Bacchus, 
and  bawling  out,  that  thou  alone  art  worthy  of  the  virgin ; 
for  that,  in  honor  of  thee,  she  wields  the  tender  ivy-wands, 
round  thee  she  moves  in  the  dance,  for  thee  she  feeds  her 
sacred  locks.  The  rumor  flies ;  and  the  same  enthusiasm  at 
once  actuates  all  the  matrons,  inflamed  by  the  furies  in  their 
breasts,  to  seek  new  habitations  :  they  instantly  abandon  their 
homes  ;  to  the  winds  they  expose  their  necks  and  hair.  Others 
again  fill  the  skies  with  tremulous  yells,  and,  wrapped  in  skins, 
wield  their  vine-dressed  spears.  She  herself,  in  the  midst  of 
them,  all  on  fire  sustains  a  blazing  pine,  and  sings  the  nuptial 
song  for  her  daughter  and  Turnus,  whirling  her  bloody  eye- 
balls round ;  and  suddenly,  with  a  stern  air,  she  cries,  lo ! 
ye  Latin  matrons,  hear,  whatever  you  may  chance  to  be :  if 
any  affection  for  unhappy  Amata  dwells  in  your  humane 
souls,  if  concern  for  a  mother's  right  touches  you  to  the 
quick,  unbind  the  fillets  of  your  hair,  with  me  take  up  the 
orgies.  In  this  manner  among  the  woods,  among  the  deserts 
of  wild  beasts,  Alecto,  with  the  stimulating  fury  of  Bacchus, 
all  around  goads  on  the  queen. 

After  she  seemed  sufficiently  to  have  kindled 'the  first  trans- 
ports of  rage,  and  embroiled  the  counsel  and  the  whole  family 
of  Latinus ;  forthwith  the  baleful  goddess  hence  is  borne  on 
dusky  wings  to  the  walls  of  the  bold  Rutulian ;  which  city 
Danae,"  wafted  by  the  impetuous  south  wind,  is  said  to  have 
founded  for  her  the  Acrisian  colony.  The  place  was  formerly 
called  Ardea  by  the  ancient  inhabitants,  and  now  Ardea  it 
remains,  an  illustrious  name  :34  but  its  fortune  has  departed. 
Here,  in  his  lofty  palace,  was  Turnus  enjoying  repose  at  the 
black  hour  of  midnight.  Alecto  lays  aside  her  hideous  aspect, 
and  Fury's  limbs  ;  she  transforms  herself  into  the  shape  of  an 

33  Danae,  the  daughter  of  Acrisius,  king  of  Argos :  she  fled  to  Italy, 
and  founded  the  city  of  Ardea,  the  capital  of  the  Rutuli. 

34  i.e.  "  a  name,  and  nothing  more."  See  Drakenb.  on  Silius  L  293.  B. 


E.  VIL  421 — 453.  ^ENEID.  265 

old  bag,  plows  with  wrinkles  her  loathsome  front,  assumes 
gray  hairs  with  a  fillet,  and  binds  on  them  an  olive  bough : 
she  takes  the  form  of  Calybe,  the  aged  priestess  of  Juno's 
temple,  and  with  these  words  presents  herself  to  the  youth  full 
in  his  view :  O  Turnus,  will  you  suffer  so  many  toils  to  be  lost 
and  thrown  away,  and  your  scepter  to  be  transferred36  to  a- 
Trojan  colony'?  The  king  absolutely  refuses  you  the  match 
and  dowry  you  have  purchased  with  your  blood ;  and  a 
foreigner  is  sought  to  inherit  his  kingdom.  Go  now,  thus 
baffled,  expose  yourself  to  thankless  dangers ;  go,  overthrow 
the  Tuscan  armies ;  in  peace  protect  the  Latins.  And  now, 
in  these  very  terms,  the  all-powerful  queen  of  heaven  herself 
commanded  me  plainly  to  address  you,  reclining  in  the  still 
silent  night.  Wherefore  dispatch,  and  with  alacrity  order  the 
youth  to  be  armed,  and  march  forth  to  war ;  in  flames  con- 
sume both  the  Phrygian  leaders,  who  are  stationed  in  the  fair 
river,  and  their  painted  vessels.  So  the  awful  majesty  of 
heaven  commands.  Let  king  Latinus  himself,  unless  he  con- 
sents to  grant  the  match,  and  stand  to  his  word,  know,  and  at 
length  experience  Turnus  in  arms. 

Upon  this  the  youth,  deriding  the  prophetess,  thus  in  his 
turn  replies :  The  intelligence  has  not  escaped  my  ears,  as 
you  imagine,  that  a  fleet  is  arrived  in  the  Tiber's  channel. 
Forge  not  to  me  such  grounds  of  fear :  for  of  us  imperial  Juno 
is  not  unmindful.  But  old  age,  O  dame,  oppressed  with 
dotage,  and  barren  of  the  truth,  in  vain  harasses  thee  with 
cares ;  and  with  false  alarms  deludes  thee  a  prophetess,  amid 
the  warlike  affairs  of  kings.  Your  province  is  to  guard  the 
statues  and  temples  of  the  gods :  let  men  have  the  management 
of  peace  and  war,  by  whom  war  ought  to  be  managed. 

By  these  words  Alecto  kindled  into  rage.  As  for  the 
youth,  while  yet  speaking,  a  sudden  trembling  seized  his 
limbs  ;  his  eyes  stiffened  :  with  so  many  snakes  the  Fury  hisses, 
and  a  shape  so  horrid  discloses  itself:  then,  as  he  hesitates, 
and  purposes  more  to  say,  rolling  her  fiery  eyeballs,  she  re- 
pelled [his  words],  and  reared  the  double  snakes  in  her  hair, 
clanked  her  whip,  and  thus  further  spoke  in  outrageous 
accent :  Lo,  here  am  I  oppressed  with  dotage,  whom  old  age, 
barren  of  the  truth,  deludes  with  false  alarms  amid  the  arm* 

35  Cf.  JEu.  v.  750,  aad  the  note.     B. 
12 


206  oGNEID.  B.  vn.  454 — 490. 

of  kings.  Turn  thy  eyes  to  these  signs :  I  came  from  the 
abode  of  the  dire  sisters ;  wars  and  death  in  my  hand  I  bear. 
Thus  having  spoken,  she  flung  a  firebrand  at  the  youth,  and 
deep  in  his  breast  fixed  the  torch  smoking  with  grim  light. 
Excessive  terror  broke  his  rest,  and  sweat  bursting  from  every 
•pore  drenched  his  bones  and  limbs.  Frantic  for  arms  he 
ravee,  for  arms  he  searches  the  bed  and  the  palace  :  a  passion 
for  the  s^vord,  a  cursed  madness  after  war,  and  indignation 
besides  rage  [in  his  breast].  As  when  with  loud  crackling  a 
fire  of  twigs  is  applied  to  the  sides  of  a  bubbling  caldron,  and 
by  the  heat  the  water  dances ;  within,  the  violence  of  the 
water  rages,  and  high  the  smoky  fluid  in  foam  overflows ;  nor 
can  the  wave  now  contain  itself;  in  pitchy  steam  it  flies  all 
abroad.  Therefore,  now  that  the  peace  is  profanely  violated, 
he  enjoins  the  chief  of  the  youth  to  repair  to  king  Latinus,  and 
orders  arms  to  be  prepared  to  defend  Italy,  to  expel  the 
enemy  from  their  territories :  [adding],  that  he  is  a  sufficient 
match  foe  Trojans  and  Latins  both.  When  he  had  thus 
spoken,  and  in  vows  had  addressed  the  gods,  the  Rutulians 
with  emulous  ardor  animate  one  another  to  arms.  One  is 
incited  by  his  distinguished  gracefulness  of  form  and  youth  ; 
another  by  his  regal  ancestors  ;  a  third  by  his  right  hand,  with 
its  glorious  deeds. 

While  Turnus  inspires  the  Rutulians  with  courageous  souls, 
Alecto  on  Stygian  wings  against  the  Trojans  speeds  her  flight : 
having  with  fresh  artifice  espied  the  place  where  on  the  shore 
fair  lulus  was  by  snares  and  chase  pursuing  beasts  of  prey. 
Here  the  virgin  of  hell  throws  on  his. hounds  a  sudden  mad- 
ness, and  affects  their  nostrils  with  the  well-known  scent,  with 
keen  ardor  to  pursue  a  stag ;  which  was  the  first  source  of 
calamities,  and  inflamed  the  rustic  minds  to  war.  The  stag 
was  of  exquisite  beauty,  and  large  horns;  which,  snatched 
from  its  mother's  dugs,  the  sons  of  Tyrrhus  nursed  up,  and 
Tyrrhus,  the  father,  to  whom  the  royal  herds  are  in.  subjec- 
tion, and  the  charge  of  the  fields  all  around  intrusted.  The 
animal-,  trained  to  discipline,  their  sister  Sylvia'*  with  her 
utmost  care  was  wont  to  deck,  interweaving  his  horns  with 
soft  garlands ;  she  combed  and  washed  him  in  the  clear  stream. 

38  Sylvia,  the  daughter  of  Tyrrhus,  shepherd  of  king  Latinus,  whose 
favorite  stag  was  killed  by  Ascanius,  which  was  the  cause  of  war  be- 
tween JEneaa  and  the  Latins. 


B.  TIL  491—524.  -^NEID.  267 

He,  patient  of  the  touch,  and  accustomed  to  his  master's 
board,  would  range  in  the  woods ;  and  again  at  night,  how- 
ever late,  to  his  home,  his  familiar  retreat,  of  himself  repaired. 
Him  at  a  distance,  while  roving,  the  mad  hounds  of  the  hunts- 
man lulus  roused,  when 'by  chance  he  was  floating  down  with 
the  stream,  and  on  the  verdant  bank  was  allaying  his  heat. 
Ascanius  himself  too,  fired  with  the  love  of  distinguished 
praise,  from  his  bended  bow  aimed  arrows  [at  him]  ;  nor  was 
the  god  unaiding  to  his  erring  hand  ;37  and  with  a  loud  [whiz- 
zing] sound  the  shaft  impelled,  pierced  his  belly  and  his  flanks. 
The  wounded  animal  fled  homeward  to  his  own  habitation, 
and  groaning  entered  his  stall ;  and  all  bloody,  and  like  one 
imploring  [pity],  filled  the  house  with  moans.  Sylvia,  the 
sister,  first,  beating  her  arms  with  her  palms,  implores  aid, 
and  calls  together  the  hardy  swains.  They  (for  the  fierce 
fiend  lurks  in  the  secret  woods)  suddenly  appear  ;  one  armed 
with  a  brand  hardened  in  the  fire,  one  with  a  sturdy  knotted 
club ;  whatever  by  each  in  rummaging  was  found,  his  rage 
makes  a  weapon.  Tyrrhus,  as  by  chance  with  driven  wedges 
he  was  cleaving  an  oak  in  four,  breathing  fury,  snatches  up 
his  ax,  and  summons  his  rustic  bands.  But  the  savage  god- 
dess, having  from  her  place  of  observation  found  the  oppor- 
tunity of  executing  her  mischievous  plot,  mounts  the  high 
roof  of  the  stall,  and  from  the  lofty  summit  sounds  the  shep- 
herd's signal,  and  in  the  winding  horn  strains  her  hellish 
voice ;  with  which  every  grove  forthwith  quaked  and  the 
deep  woods  inly  trembled.  Even  the  lake  of  Diana  heard  it 
from  afar ;  the  Nar,"  white  with  sulphureous  water,  heard  it,  as 
well  as  the  springs  of  Velinus ;  and  frightened  mothers  press- 
ed their  infants  to  their  breasts.  Then,  indeed,  wherever  the 
cornet  direful  gave  the  alarm,  the  wild  unpolished  swains, 
snatching  up  arms,  hasten  in  concert  from  every  quarter; 
and,  in  like  manner,  from  their  open  tents  the  Trojan  youth 
pour  forth  supplies  to  Ascanius.  They  ranged  their  battalions. 
Nor  now  in  rustic  skirmish  are  they  engaged  with  hardened 
clubs,  and  stakes  burned  at  the  point ;  but  with  the  doubtful 

37  i.  e.  "  his  hand  which  would  otherwise  have  erred."  See  Anthon.  B. 

33  Nar  (Nera),  a  river  of  Italy,  rises  in  the  Apennines,  and  forming  a 
junction  with  the  Velino,  flows  with  great  rapidity,  and  falls  into  the 
Tiber.  Its  waters  are  celebrated  for  their  sulphureous  properties. 
Velino  also  rises  in  the  Apennines,  and,  by  its  stagnant  waters,  forms  a 
lake  near  the  town  of  Eeate,  and  falls  into  the  Nar,  near  Spoletium. 


268  ^ENEID.  B.  vn.  525 — 555. 

steel**  they  encounter,  and  a  hideous  crop  of  drawn  swords 
shoot  up  with  horrid  aspect,  far  and  wide,  and  the  arms  of 
brass  struck  with  the  sunbeams  glitter,  and  dart  their  radi- 
ance to  the  clouds ;  as  when  with  the  first  breath  of  wind  the 
wave  begins  to  whiten,  the  sea  rises  by  degrees,  and  higher 
and  higher  heaves  its  billows,  then  from  the  lowest  bottom 
swells  up  together  to  the  skies.  Here,  before  the  foremost 
line  of  battle,  young  Almon,  the  eldest  of  the  sons  of  Tyrrhus, 
is  by  a  whizzing  arrow  shun ;  for  deep  in  his  throat  the 
wounding  weapon  stuck  fast,  and  with  the  blood  choked  up 
the  passage  of  the  humid  voice40  and  slender  breath  of  life. 
Round  him  many  bodies  of  heroes  fall,  and  aged  Galaesus, 
while  he  is  offering  to  mediate  peace ;  a  man  who  was  of  all 
others  the  most  upright,  and  formerly  the  richest  in  Ausonian 
lands.  Five  flocks  of  bleating  sheep  with  five  herds  of  cattle 
returned  home  [from  his  pastures]  ;41  and  with  a  hundred 
plows  he  turned  the  soil. 

Now  while  through  the  plains  these  actions  are  going  on 
with  equal  fury,  the  goddess,  having  accomplished  her  prom- 
ise, when  she  had  drenched  the  field  of  war  in  blood,  and 
began  the  havoc  of  the  first  encounter,  leaves  Hesperia,  and 
turning  away  through  the  aerial  sky  in  triumph,  addresses 
Juno  with  haughty  speech :  See  discord  brought  for  you  to  its 
consummation  by  baleful  war  !  Bid  them  combine  in  friend- 
ship, and  contract  alliances,  since  I  have  imbrued  the  Trojans 
with  Ausonian  blood!  To  these  will  I  add  this  also;  if  I  be 
assured  of  your  consent,  the  neighboring  towns  by  rumors 
will  I  urge  on  to  the  war,  and  inflame  their  minds  with  the 
passion  of  furious  Mars,  that  from  all  hands  they  may  come 
as  auxiliaries ;  war  will  I  spread  over  all  the  country.  Then 
Juno  [said]  in  return :  Of  terrors  and  fraud  tkere  is  enough  : 
fixed  are  the  causes  of  the  war ;  in  arms  they  combat  hand  to 
hand;  those  arms,  which  chance  first  gave,  recent  blood  hath 
stained.  Such  espousals  and  such  nuptial  rites  let  Venus' 
peerless  offspring  and  king  Latinus  himself  celebrate.  Father 

39  Referring  to  the  equality  of  forces  on  both  sides.  So  "  dubia  cua- 
pide,"  Silius  iv.  188.  B. 

*°  Cf.  Silius  iv  171,  "Haesit  barbaricum  sub  anhelo  gutture  telum; 
Et  clausit  raucum  letali  vulnere  murmur."  B. 

41  Davidson  prefers  taking  "  redeo"  in  its  sense  "  of  being  one's  in- 
come, stock,  or  revenue."  B.  .%  . , 


B.  vir.  556—590.  ^ENEID.  269 

Jove,  the  great  ruler  of  heaven  supreme,  permits  you  not  to 
roam  with  further  license  in  the  higher  regions.  Retire  from 
these  places.  Whatever  turn  of  fortune  our  labors  may . 
henceforth  take,  myself  will  manage.  These  words  Saturnia 
uttered.  At  which  the  Fury  lifts  up  her  wings  hissing  with 
snakes,  and  hies  to  the  mansion  of  Cocytus,  leaving  the  high 
places  in  this  upper  world.  In  the  center  of  Italy,  under  lofty 
mountains,  lies  a  place  of  high  renown,  and  celebrated  by  fame 
in  many  regions,  the  valley  of  Amsanctus :"  the  side  of  a 
grove,  gloomy  with  thick  boughs,  hems  it  in  on  either  hand, 
and  in  the  midst  a  torrent,  in  hoarse  murmurs  and  with  whirl- 
ing eddies,  roars  along  the  rocks.  Here  are  shown  a  horrible 
cave  and  the  breathing-holes43  of  grizzly  Pluto ;  and  a  vast 
gulf,  having  burst  hell's  barriers,  expands  his  pestilential  jaws : 
into  which  the  Fury,  abhorred  demon,  having  plunged  out  of 
sight,  disburdened  heaven  and  earth. 

Not  less  active  meanwhile  is  the  imperial  daughter  of  Sat- 
urn, in  putting  the  last  hand  to  the  war  begun.  The  whole 
body  of  the  shepherds  rush  from  the  field  of  battle  into  the 
city ;  and  bring  back  their  slain,  the  young  Almon,  and  the 
corpse  of  Galaesus  with  ghastly  wounds  dishonored :  they 
implore  the  gods,  and  call  Latinus  to  witness.  Turnus  too 
comes  up,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  charge  of  fire  and  sword, 
aggravates  the  terror;  [complains]  that  the  Trojans  are  in- 
vited to  share  the  crown,  and  the  Phrygian  race  incorporated 
[with  the  Latins],  and  he  himself  driven  from  the  threshold. 
Then  those,  whose  mothers,  struck  with  Bacchanal  fury, 
bound  over  the  pathless  groves  in  choirs,  collected  from  every 
quarter  combine,  and  importunately  urge  the  war ;  for  not 
inconsiderable  is  the  influence  of  Amata's  name.  All  these 
forthwith  against  the  omens,  against  the  decrees  of  the  gods, 
in  defiance  of  the  thwarting  power  of  heaven,  crave  the  im- 
pious war.  Emulously  they  beset  the  palace  of  king  Latinus. 
He,  like  a  rock  in  the  sea  unmoved,  withstands  them :  like  a 
rock  in  the  sea,  which,  when  the  mighty  shock  comes  on,  while 
numerous  waves  around  it  roar,  supports  itself  by  its  own 
huge  weight ;  in  vain  the  cliffs  and  foamy  rocks  rage  around, 
and  the  sea-weed  dashed  against  its  sides  is  driven  back.  But 

/-2  Amsanctus,  a  pestilential  lake  near  Capua,  in  Italy,  supposed,  ty 
the  poetg,  to  be  the  entrance  to  the  infernal  regions. 
43  i.  c.  the  vents,  through  which  the  mephitic  vapor  exhales.     B. 


270  ^ENEID.  B.  ni.  691—626. 

when  no  means  avail  to  defeat  their  blind  resolution,  and 
things  go  on  by  the  direction  of  fierce  Juno,  the  aged  monarch, 
having  poured  forth  many  protestations  to  the  gods  and  skies 
in  vain,  exclaims,  Alas  !  by  the  Fates  are  we  overpowered, 
and  borne  down  by  the  storm.  Yourselves,  O  wretches  !  with 
your  sacrilegious  blood  shall  pay  the  atonement ;  and  thee,  O 
Turnus,  the  impious  promoter  of  this  war,  thee  dire  vengeance 
shall  in  time  overtake ;  and  thou  shalt  supplicate  the  gods  by 
vows  too  late.  For,  as  to  me,  my  rest  is  provided,  and  all  my 
security  is  near44  at  hand  :  I  am  only  deprived  of  a  happy  end. 
Nor  more  he  said,  but  shut  himself  up  in  his  palace,  and  quitted 
the  reins  of  government. 

In  Hesperian  Latium  it  was  a  custom,  which  the  Alban 
cities  all  along  have  observed  as  sacred,  and  which  Rome,  the 
mistress  of  the  «workl,  now  religiously  observes,  when  first  they 
rouse  Mars  to  battle;  whether  with  the  Getes"  they  intend 
to  wage  the  disastrous  war,  or  with  the  Hyrcanians,  or  the 
Arabs,  or  to  march  against  the  Indians,  and  pursue  the  morn- 
ing, and  from  the  Parthians  re-demand  the  standards.  There 
are  two  gates  of  War  (for  so  they  are  called)  deemed  sacred 
from  religious  association,  and  the  dread  of  cruel  Mars :  a 
hundred  brazen  bolts,  and  the  eternal  strength  of  iron,  shut 
them  fast ;  and  guardian  Janus  stirs  not  from  the  threshold. 
When  the  fathers  have  fixed  the  firm  sentence  of  war,  the 
consul  himselt,  distinguished  by  his  royal  robe  and  Gabine 
cincture,  unlocks  the  jarring  portals ;  himself  rouses  the  com- 
bat :  then  all  the  youth  follow,  and  the  brazen  cornets  with 
hoarse  assent  conspire.  In  this  fashion  Latinus  then  too  was 
urged  to  declare  war  against  the  Trojans,  and  unfold  the 
dreary  gates.  The  aged  prince  refrained  from  touching  them, 
and  with  abhorrence  shrunk  from  the  shocking  office,  and  shut 
himself  up  in  the  dark  shades.  Then  Saturnia,  the  queen  of 
the  gods,  shooting  from  the  sky,  herself  with  her  own  hand 
pushed  the  lingering  doors,  and,  turning  the  hinge,  burst  the 
brazen  portals  of  war. 

Ausonia,  before  at  rest  and  unmoved,  is  all  on  fire.  Some 
prepare  to  take  the  field  on  foot;  some,  mounted  on  lofty 
steeds,  amid  clouds  of  dust,  rush  with  fury  [to  the  war]  :  all 

4*  Literally,  "  my  port  is  wholly  in  view."     B. 

43  The  Getea  were  a  people  of  European  Scythia,  inhabiting  that  part 
of  Dacia  near  the  mouth  of  the  Danube. 


B.  VII.  626—653.  ^ENEID.  271 

are  importunate  for  arms.  Some  with  fat  lard  cleanse  their 
smooth  bucklers  and  glittering  spears,  and  on  the  whetstone 
grind  their  axes  ;  well  pleased  to  bear  the  standards,  and  hear 
the  trumpets  sound.  Moreover,  five  great  cities  renew  their 
arms,  on  anvils  raised,  namely,  the  powerful  Atina,4*  and  proud 
Tivoli,  Ardea,  and  Crustumeri,  and  Antemnse,  with  turrets 
crowned.  They  hollow  trusty  coverings  for  their  heads,  and 
bend  the  osier  hurdles  for  the  bosses  of  their  bucklers  :  others 
hammer  out  the  brazen  corselets,  or  from  ductile  silver  mold 
the  smooth  greaves.  To  this  all  regard  of  the  share  and 
scythe,  for  this  all  love  for  the  plow  gave  way.  In  furnaces 
they  forge  their  fathers'  swords  anew.  And  now  the  trumpets 
sound  :  the  watchword,  the  signal  for  the  war,  is  issued  forth. 
One  in  eager  haste  snatches  a  helmet  from  the  roof;  another 
joins  his  neighing  steeds  to  the  yoke,  and  braces  on  his  buckler 
and  habergeon  wrought  in  gold  of  triple  texture,  and  girds 
himself  with  his  trusty  sword. 

Now  open  Helicon,47  ye  goddesses,  and  inspire  me  while  I 
sing  :  what  kings  were  incited  to  the  war  ;  what  troops  follow- 
ing each  leader  filled  the  plain  ;  with  what  heroes  the  auspicious 
land  of  Italy  flourished  even  in  those  early  days,  with  what 
arms  it  blazed.  For  you,  O  goddesses,  both  remember,  and 
can  record  :  to  us  a  slight  breath  of  fame  scarcely  glides. 

First  enters  on  the  war,  fierce  from  the  Tuscan  coasts,  Me- 
zentius,48  the  contemner  of  the  gods,  and  arms  his  troops. 
Next  to  him  Lausus  his  son,  to  whom  no  one  was  more  grace- 
ful, except  the  person  of  Laurentine  Turnus.  Lausus,  the 
breaker  of  horses,  and  a  mighty  huntsman,  leads  from  the 
city  Agylla  a  thousand  followers  in  vain  ;49  worthy  to  have 
had  more  joy  in  [obeying]  a  father's  commands,  and  to  whom 

46  Atina,  a  city  of  the  Volsci.    Tivoli,  the  ancient  Tibur,  a  city  of  the 
Sabines,  about  16  miles  north-east  of  Rome,  delightfully  situated  on 
the  banks  of  the  Anio  :  it  was  the  favorite  country  residence  of  the 
Romans.     Ardea,  the  capital  of  the  Rutuli.     Crustumerium  and  Antem- 
nse, towns  of  the  Sabines  :  the  latter  was  situated  near  the  confluence 
of  the  Anio  and  Tiber. 

47  Helicon,  a  celebrated  mountain  of  Bceotia,  sacred  to  Apollo  and  the 
Muses,  from  which  issued  the  fountains  Hippocrene  and  Aganippe. 

48  Mezentius,  king  of  the  Tyrrhenians,  was  expelled  by  his  subjects 
on  account  of  his  cruelties,  when  he  fled  to  Turnus,  who  employed  him 
in  his  war  against  the  Trojans.     He  and  his  son  Lausus  were  slain  by 


49  Because  he  was  never  to  return.    B. 


272  JENEID.  B.  vn.  654—684. 

Mezentius  ought  not  to  have  been  the  father.  Next  to  these 
fair  Aventinus,  sprung  from  renowned  Hercules,60  proudly 
displays  upon  the  grassy  plain  his  chariot  distinguished  by  the 
palm,  and  his  victorious  steeds ;  and  on  his  buckler  wears  his 
paternal  ensign,  a  hundred  snakes,  and  a  hydra  environed 
with  serpents :  whom  in  a  wood  on  the  Aventine  hill  the 
priestess  Rhea  brought  forth,  her  furtive  offspring,  into  the  re- 
gions of  light,  a  woman  mixing  with  a  god ;  at  the  time  when 
the  victorious  Tirynthian51  hero,  having  slain  Geryon,  reached 
the  Laurentine  fields,  and  washed  his  Iberian  heifers  in  the 
Tuscan  river  [Tiber].  Javelins  in  their  hands,  and  cruel  pikes, 
they  bear  into  the  field  of  war ;  and  fight  with  the  tapering 
point  of  the  Sabine  spike-dart.  Himself  [appeared]  on  foot, 
shaking  a  lion's  enormous  hide,  shaggy  with  fearful  bristles,  its 
white  tusks  displayed,  having  it  thrown  over  his  head :  thus  he 
entered  the  royal  palace,  a  horrid  figure,  and  his  shoulders  man- 
tled with  the  attire  of  Hercules.  Two  brothers  next,  Catillus52 
and  fierce  Coras,  Argive  youths,  forsake  the  walls  of  Tibur,  its 
people  called  by  their  brother  Tiburtus'  name ;  and  before  the 
van,  amid  thick  flying  darts,  are  hurried  along :  as  when  two 
cloud-born  Centaurs  from  the  high  mountain's  top  descend, 
with  impetuous  career,  leaving  Omole63  and  snowy  CKhrys  ;  the 
spacious  wood  gives  way  to  them  as  they  move,  and  the  shrubs 
with  loud  rustling  noise  give  way.  Nor  did  the  founder  of 
the  city  Praeneste"  absent  himself;  king  Caeculus,  whom 
every  age  believed  to  have  been  begotten  by  Vulcan  amid 
the  rural  herds,  and  to  have  been  found  near  the  fire.  Him 
a  rustic  band  accompanies  from  all  the  neighborhood  around : 
both  those  who  inhabit  high  Praeneste,  and  those  who  culti- 
vate the  fields  of  Gabine  Juno,  or  the  cool  Anio,  and  the 
mountainous  towns  of  the  Hernicians,"  dewed  with  rills: 

50  Anthon's  version  is,  "  Aventinus,  of  heroic  mien,  sprung  from  Her- 
cules, type  of  heroic  beauty."    B. 

51  Tirynthian  hero,  a  name  of  Hercules,  from  Tirynthus,  a  town  of 
Argolis  in  Peloponnesus,  where  he  generally  resided. 

52  Catillus,  a  son  of  Amphiaraus,  who,  with  his  brothers  Coras  and 
Tiburtus,  assisted  Turnus  against  JSneas. 

83  Omole  and  Othrys,  two  lofty  mountains  in  Thessaly,  once  the  resi^ 
dence  of  the  Centaurs. 

54  Praeneste  (Palestrina),  a  city  of  Latium,  about  24  miles  east  from 
Rome,  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  Ca3culus,  the  son  of  Vulcan. 

>5  Heraicians,  a  people  of  Campania,  who  were  inveterate  enemies  of 


B.  vn.  684—711.  jENEID.  273 

whom  thou,  rich  Anagnia,  whom  thou,  father  Amasenus, 
feedest.  These  are  not  all  supplied  with  rattling  arms,  or 
shields,  or  cars :  the  greatest  part  sling  balls  of  livid  lead : 
some  wield  two  javelins  in  the  hand,  and  for  covering  to  their 
heads  wear  tawny  beavers  of  the  fur  of  wolves  :  with  the  left 
foot  naked  they  tread  the  ground  ;  a  shoe  of  unwrought 
leather  covers  the  other.  Messapus"  next,  a  gallant  horse- 
man, Neptune's  offspring,  whom  none  had  power  to  prostrate 
by  fire  or  steel,  suddenly  calls  to  arms  his  people  long  sunk  in 
indolence,  and  his  troops  disused  to  war,  and  handles  the 
sword  once  more.  These  command  the  Fescennine  troops, 
and  the  Falisci"  famed  for  equity  ;  those  possess  the  strengths 
of  Soracte,68  and  the  Flavinian  land,  and  the  lake  and  mount- 
ain of  Ciminus,  and  Capena's  groves.  Uniformly  they  moved 
in  harmonious  order,  and  sang  the  praises  of  their  king :  as 
when  at  times  the  snow-white  swans  through  the  liquid  sky 
are  homeward  borne  from  pasture,  and  through  their  long 
necks  pour  melodious  notes ;  the  river  [Cayster]  and  the 
Asian  lake,  struck  from  far,  return  the  sound.  Nor  would 
any  one  have  taken  them  for  armed  troops  of  such  a  vast  body 
promiscuously  joined,  but  for  an  airy  cloud  of  hoarse-voiced 
fowls  driven  to  the  shore  from  the  deep  abyss.  Lo  !  Clausus,'9 
of  the  ancient  blood  of  the  Sabines,  [came,]  leading  a  mighty 
host ;  [Clausus,]  from  whom  the  Claudian  tribe  and  clan  are 
now  through  Latium.  diffused,  since  Rome  has  been  shared 
with  the  Sabines.  With  them  Amiterna's60  numerous  bands, 
and  the  ancient  Quirites,81  the  whole  power  of  Eretum,  and 
olive-bearing  Mutuscae  :  those  who  inhabit  the  city  Nomen- 

the  Romans.  Anagnia,  a  city  of  the  Hernici.  Amasenus  (La  Toppia), 
a  river  of  Latium,  falling  into  the  Tyrrhene  Sea. 

56  Messapus,  a  son  of  Neptune,  who  left  Boeotia,  and  came  to  settle 
in  Italy,  where  he  assisted  Turnus  against  ^Eneas. 

57  Falisci,  a  people  of  Etruria,  originally  a  Macedonian  colony.     Fes- 
cennia,  also  a  town  of  Etruria. 

5s  Soracte  (M.  S.  Oreste),  a  mountain  of  Etruria,  about  26  miles  north 
of  Rome,  sacred  to  Apollo.  Flavinia  and  Copena,  towns  of  Etruria. 
Ciminus,  a  mountain  and  lake  of  Etruria. 

59  Clausus,  king  of  the  Sabines,  who  assisted  Turnus  against  JEneas : 
he  was  the  progenitor  of  Ap.  Claudius,  the  founder  of  the  Claudian  family. 

60  Amiterna,  Eretum,  and  Mutuscse,  towns  of  the  Sabines. 

61  Quirites ;  the  Sabines  were  so  called  from  the  town  of  Cures,  which 
they  inhabited ;  the  name  was  also  given  to  the  citizens  of  Rome,  after 
their  union  with  the  Sabines. 

12* 


274  JENEID.  B.  m.  712 — 734. 

turn,  and  the  dewy  fields  of  Velino,  the  horrid  rocks  of  Te- 
trica,"  and  Mount  Severus,  Casperia,  and  Foruli,  and  the  river 
of  Himella  :"  those  who  drink  the  Tiber  and  the  Fabaris ; 
those  whom  cold  Nursia  sent,  the  Hortine  squadrons  and  the 
Latin  nations ;  and  those  whom  'Allia,6*  an  inauspicious  name, 
dividing  runs  between :  in  such  numbers  as  the  billows  are 
rolled  on  the  surface  of  the  Libyan  main,  when  surly  Orion 
sets  in  the  wintery  waves ;  or  as  numerous  as  are  the  thick 
ears  of  corn,  scorched  by  the  first  heat  of  the  [summer's]  sun, 
either  on  the  plain  of  Hermus,  or  in  Lycia's  yellow  fields. 
Their  bucklers  ring,  and  earth,  struck  with  the  trampling  of 
their  feet,  trembles.  Next  Halesus,"  of  Agamemnon's  race, 
foe  to  the  Trojan  name,  yokes  his  steeds  in  the  chariot,  and 
hurries  to  Turnus'  aid  a  thousand  fierce  tribes  ;  those  who 
with  harrows  turn  the  soil  of  Massicus  fertile  in  vines,  and 
whom  the  Auruncan  fathers  sent  from  their  lofty  hills,  and 
the  adjacent  plains  of  Sidicinum  ;'*  those  who  march  from 
Gales,  and  who  border  on  the  fordable  river  Vulturnus ;  to- 
gether with  the  hardy  inhabitants  of  Saticula, 87  and  the  troops 
of  the  Osci.  Short  tapering  darts  are  their  weapons ;  but 
their  fashion  is  to  fit  them  with  a  limber  thong.  A  short 
target  covers  their  left  arms ;  and  hand  to  hand  [they  fight 
with]  crooked  falchions.  Nor  shall  you,  CEbalus,68  be  in  my 
numbers  left  unnamed,  whom  Telon  is  said  to  have  begotten 
from  the  nymph  Sebethis,  when,  now  advanced  in  years,  he 

62  Tetrica  and  Severus,  mountains  in  the  country  of  the  Sabines,  near 
the  river  Fabaris.     Casperia  and  Foruli,  towns  of  the  Sabines. 

s3  Himella  and  Fabaris  (Farfa),  rivers  of  the  Sabines ;  the  former  falls 
into  the  Tiber  below  Cures.  Nursia  and  Hortu,  towns  of  the  Sabines. 

61  Allia  (Aia),  a  river  of  Italy  falling  into  the  Tiber.  On  its"  banks 
the  Romans  were  defeated  with  great  slaughter  by  the  Gauls  under 
Brennus,  B.  c.  387.  Hence  it  was  deemed  inauspicious. 

63  Halesus,  a  son  of  Agamemnon  and  Briseis  or  Clytemnestra.     Hav- 
ing been  driven  from  home,  he  came  to  Italy,  where  he  settled  on  Mount 
Massicus,  in  Campania,  and  was  killed  by  Pallas  in  the  war  between 
Turnus  and  ./Eneas. 

66  Sidicinum  and  Cales,  towns  of  Campania,  in  Italy.    Vulturnus,  a 
river  of  Campania,  rising  in  the  Apennines,  and  falling  into  the  Tyr- 
rhene Sea,  after  passing  near  the  city  of  Capua. 

67  Saticula,  a  town  of  the  Samnites,  in  Italy,  east  of  Capua.     Osci,  a 
people  between  Campania  and  the  country  of  the  Yolsci. 

6J  CEbalus,  a  son  of  Telon,  king  of  the  Teleboans,  a  people  of  ^Etolia, 
in  Greece,  and  the  nymph  Sebethis.  The  Teleboans  under  CEbalus  set- 
tled in  Caprea?  (Capri),  an  island  on  the  coast  of  Campania  in  Italy. 


B.  VIL  735—762.  JENEID.  275 

possessed  Capreae,  the  realms  of  the  Teleboans ;  and  the  son 
likewise,  not  content  with  his  paternl  lands,  even  then  ex~ 
tended  his  dominion  far  and  wide  over  the  Sarrastes,6?  and 
the  plains  which  Sarnus  waters.  Those  also  who  inhabit 
Rufae  and  Batulurn,  and  the  fields  of  Celenna,  and  those  whom 
the  walls  of  fruit-bearing  Abella  overlook;  who,  after  the 
Teutonic  fashion,  are  wont  to  sling  the  Cateian  darts,70  whose 
helmets  are  the  rind  torn  from  the  cork-tree,  and  whose  half- 
rnoon  shields  'and  swords  are  formed  of  glittering  brass.  And 
thee  too,  Ufens,71  mountainous  Nursse  sent  forth  to  battle, 
signalized  by  fame  and  happy  feats  of  arms :  whose  subjects 
are  the  ^quicolae,  a  race  peculiarly  rough,  bred  in  a  hardened 
soil,  and  inured  to  frequent  hunting  in  the  woods.  In  arms 
they  harass  the  earth,  and  ever  take  delight  to  carry  off  fresh 
spoils,  and  live  by  plunder.  And  Umbro"  too,  of  singular 
fortitude,  came  by  permission  from  his  prince  Archippus, 
priest  of  the  Marrubian  nation,  his  helmet  decked  with  a 
wreath  of  the  auspicious  olive ;  who  by  enchantment  and 
dexterity  was  wont  to  sprinkle  sleep  on  the  viper's  race,  and 
the  noxious-breathing  hydras ;  their  fury  he  assuaged,  and  by 
his  art  their  stings  he  healed.  But  to  cure  the  hurt  of  pointed 
Dardanian  steel  surpassed  his  power  and  skill ;  nor  soporific 
charms,  nor  herbs  gathered  on  the  Marsian  mountains,  availed 
him  aught  against  those  wounds.  For  thee,  Angitia's  grove, 
for  thee,  Fucinus,  with  his  crystal  flood,  for  thee  the  glassy 
lakes  did  mourn.  Virbius,"  too,  the  beauteous  offspring  of 
Hippolytus,  marched  to  the  war;  whom  his  mother  Aricia74 

69  Sarrastes,  a  people  of  Campania  on  the  river  Sarnus,  which  divides 
that  country  from  the  Picentini,  and  falls  into  the  Bay  of  Naples.     Rufas, 
etc.,  towns  of  Campania. 

70  Perhaps  resembling  the  <:  aclydes"  in  vs.  730.     See  Anthon.     B. 

71  Ufens,  a  river  of  Latium,  falling  into  the  Tyrrhene  Sea  near  Tarra- 
cina.     Nursae,  a  town  of  Umbria  in  Italy.     JEquicoli,  a  people  of  Lat- 
ium near  Tibur. 

72  Umbro,  a  general  of  the  Marsi,   whose  capital,  Harrubium,  was 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  Fucinus.     Angitia,  a  wood  in  the  coun- 
try of  the  Marsi,  between  Alba  and  the  lake  Fucinus  (L.  di  Celano). 

73  Virbius,  a  name  given  to  Hippolytus  after  he  had  been  restored  to 
life  by  ./Esculapius  at  the  instance  of  Diana,  who  pitied  his  unfortunate 
end.     Virgil  makes  him  the  son  of  Hippolytus. 

74  Aricia,  an  Athenian,  whom  Hippolytus  married,  after  he  had  been 
restored  to  life  by  ^Esculapius.     Egeria,  a  nymph  of  Aricia  in  Italy, 
where  Diana  was  particularly  worshiped. 


276  ^ENTEID.  B.  VII.  763—793. 

sent  forth  illustriously  accomplished,  having  been  educated  in 
the  groves  of  Egeria,  near  the  humid  shores,  where,  rich 
[with  offerings],  and  not  implacable,  Diana's  altar  stands. 
For  they  report  that  Ilippolytus,  when  by  his  step-dame's  art 
he  had  fallen,  and  with  his  blood  had  satiated  his  father's 
vengeance,  having  been  torn  in  pieces  by  his  frighted  steeds, 
again  visited  the  ethereal  stars,  and  the  superior  regions  of 
this  world,  recalled  [to  life]  by  medicinal  herbs,  and  Diana's 
love.  Then  the  almighty  father,  incensed  that  any  mortal 
should  rise  to  the  light  of  life  from  the  infernal  shades,  him- 
self with  thunder  hurled  down  to  the  Stygian  floods  Apollo's 
offspring,  the  inventor  of  such  medicine  and  art.  But  pro- 
pitious Diana  conceals  Hippolytus  in  a  secret  recess,  and 
consigns  him  to  the  nymph  of  the  Egerian  grove ;  where  in 
solitude  and  obscurity  he  passed  his  life  in  the  Italian  woods, 
and  changing  his  name  was  called  Virbius :  whence  too  from 
Trivia's"  temple  and  sacred  groves  horn-hoofed  steeds  are 
debarred,  because,  frightened  by  sea-monsters,  they  overturned 
the  chariot  and  the  youth  on  the  shore.  Yet  not  the  less 
eagerly  his  son  managed  his  fiery  steeds  on  the  level  plain, 
and  in  his  chariot  rushed  on  to  the  war.  Turnus  himself,  a 
comely  personage,  moves  on  in  the  van,  wielding  his  arms, 
and  by  a  full  head  overtops  the  rest ;  whose  towering  helmet, 
plumed  with  a  triple  crest  of  hair,  sustains  a  Chimasra  breath- 
ing from  her  jaws  ^Etnean  fires.  The  more  outrageous  was 
she,  and  tremendous  with  baleful  flames,  in  proportion  as  with 
the  effusion  of  blood  the  combat  grows  more  fierce.  An  lo, 
wrought  in  gold  with  horns  erect,  adorned  his  polished  steel ; 
lo,  now  overgrown  with  fur,  now  a  heifer  (a  mighty  device), 
and  Argus78  the  virgin's  keeper,  and  Inachus  her  sire,  pouring 
the  river  from  his  embossed  urn.  A  cloud"  of  infantry  suc- 
ceeds, and  shielded  battalions  in  condensed  array  overspread 
the  whole  plain  ;  the  Argive  youth,  the  Ausonian  bands,  the 
Rutuli,  and  ancient  Sicanians,  the  Sacranian  hosts,  and  the 
Labici  with  their  painted  bucklers :  those,  Tiberinus,  who 
cultivate  thy  glades,  and  the  sacred  banks  of  Numicus,  and 

75  Trivia,  a  name  given  to  Diana,  because  she  presided  over  all  places 
where  three  roads  met. 

76  Argus,  feigned  to  have  a  hundred  eyes,  of  which  only  two  were 
asleep  at  once.     Juno  sent  him  to  watch  To. 

77  Cf.  Horn.  II.  A.  274.  Apoll.  Rh.  iv.  397,  tvo/teveuv  dvtpuv  vfoof.  B. 


E.  vn.  798— 817.    Tin.  1—7.     jENEID.  277 

with  the  plowshare  labor  the  Rutulian  hills  and  Circe's 
mount ;  over  which  fields  presides  Jupiter  of  Anxur,78  and  Fe- 
ronia  rejoicing  in  her  verdant  grove,  where  lie  Saturn's  gloomy 
fen,  and  where  chill  Ufens  through  deep  valleys  seeks  his  way, 
and  sinks  into  the  sea.  Besides  these  came  Camilla79  of  the 
Volscian  nation,  leading  a  squadron  of  horse,  and  troops  gorge- 
ously arrayed  in  brass ;  a  virgin-warrior.  Not  to  the  distaff 
or  the  work-baskets  of  Minerva  had  she  accustomed  her  fe- 
male hands ;  but,  though  a  virgin,  [was  inured]  to  bear  the 
hardships  of  war,  and  in  swiftness  of  foot  to  outstrip  the 
winds.  Even  over  the  topmost  stalks  of  standing  corn  she 
could  have  lightly  skimmed,  nor  once  had  hurt  the  tender 
ears  in  her  career ;  or  along  the  main,  suspended  on  the  heav- 
ing surge,  could  glide,  nor  in  the  liquid  plain  dip  her  nimble 
feet.  Her  all  the  youth,  pouring  from  city  and  country,  and 
the  crowd  of  matrons,  view  with  wonder,  and  gaze  after  her 
as  she  goes,  gaping  with  minds  aghast  to  see  how  the  regal 
ornament  of  purple  mantles  her  smooth  neck ;  how  the  buckle 
interlaces  her  hair  in  gold ;  with  what  grace  she  bears  her 
Lycian  quiver,  and  her  pastoral  myrtle-spear  tipped  with 
steel. 


BOOK  vm. 

In  the  Eighth  Book,  ^Eue.is  forms  an  alliance  with  Evander,  who  sends  to 
hia  assistance  a  chosen  body  of  men  under  his  son  Pallas.  Venus  pre- 
sents JSneas  with  a  suit  of  armor,  fabricated  by  Vulcan ;  on  the  shield 
are  represented  the  future  glory  and  triumph  of  the  Bomaus. 

SOON  as  from  the  citadel  of  Laurentum  Turnus  had  dis- 
played the  signal,  and  with  hoarse  clangor  the  trumpets  rat- 
tled; soon  as  he  roused  the  sprightly  coursers,  and  clashed 
the  arms ;  forthwith  their  minds  are  driven  to  high  commo- 
tion ;  all  Latium  at  once  with  hurrying  tumultuous  haste  com- 
bine, and  the  frantic  youth  burn  with  fury.  The  chief  leaders, 
Messapus  and  Ufens,  and  that  contemner  of  the  gods,  Mezen- 

73  Anxur,  a  city  of  the  Volsci  in  Latium,  sacred  to  Jupiter.  Feronia, 
a  Roman  goddess,  the  mother  of  Herilus ;  she  had  the  care  of  woods 
and  orchards. 

79  Camilla,  queen  of  the  Volsci,  was  the  daughter  of  Metabus  and 
Casmilla.  She  assisted  Turnus  in  the  war  against  .(Eneas,  and  signalized 
herself  by  undaunted  bravery. 


278  JENEID.  B.  mi.  8 — 42. 

tius,  draw  together  their  succors  from  every  quarter,  and 
of  their  laborers  depopulate  the  lands  around.  Venulus1 
too  is  sent  to  the  city  of  great  Diomede  to  crave  a  supply, 
and  to  bear  -word  that  the  Trojans  were  settled  in  Latium  ; 
that  ^Eiieas  was  arrived  with  a  fleet,  and  was  introducing 
his  conquered  gods,  and  gave  out  that  he  was  designed  by 
Fate  to  be  the  king  [of  Latium]  ;  that  many  nations  joined 
themselves  to  the  Trojan,  and  his  fame  began  to  be  spread 
abroad  all  through  Latium.  What  he  proposes  by  these 
measures,  what  result  of  the  war  he  longs  to  bring  about  (if 
fortune  attend  him),  appear  more  obvious  to  [Diomede]  himself 
than  to  king  Turnus,  or  king  Latinus. 

Such  in  Latium  was  the  state  of  affairs  :  all  which  the  Tro- 
jan hero  perceiving,  fluctuates  with  a  high  tide  of  anxious 
care ;  and  now  this  way,  now  that,  he  swiftly  turns  his  wa- 
vering mind,  snatches  various  purposes  by  starts,  and  shifts 
himself  every  way :  as  when  in  brazen  caldrons2  of  water  the 
tremulous  light,  reflected  from  the  sun,3  or  from  the  image  of 
the  radiant  moon,  swiftly  glances  over  every  place  around,  and 
now  is  darted  up  on  high,  and  strikes  the  ceiling  of  the  lofty 
roof.  It  was  night,  and  profound  sleep  held  fast  the  wearied 
animals,  the  cattle  and  flying  kind  over  all  the  earth,  when  on 
the  bank,  and  beneath  the  axis  of  the  chill  sky,  father  y£ueas, 
disturbed  in  mind  with  the  thought  of  disastrous  war,  laid 
himself  down,  and  indulged  his  weary  limbs  in  late  repose. 
To  his  view  Tiberinus  himself,  the  old  god  of  the  place,  from 
his  smooth  gliding  stream,  was  seen  to  lift  up  his  head  among 
the  poplar  boughs :  a  fine  robe  of  lawn  enwrapped  his  limbs 
in  its  sea-green  folds,  and  shady  reeds  covered  his  locks. 
Then  thus  he  addressed  [^Eneas],  and  with  these  words  eased 
him  of  his  cares  :  O  thou,  sprung  from  the  race  of  gods,  who 
to  us  bringest  home  Troy  saved  from  its  foes,  and  preservest 
Pergamus,  destined  to  stand  forever,  an  expected  [guest]  to 
the  Laurentine  soil  and  lands  of  Latium ;  here  is  thy  sure 
abode,  thy  sure  dwelling-place  :  flinch  not,  nor  be  dismayed 
by  the  threats  of  war.  All  indignation  and  anger  of  the  gods 

1  Venulus,  an  embassador  sent  by  Turnus  to  demand  the  assistance 
of  Diomedes. 

2  Literally,  "  the  lips  of  the  caldrons."     B. 

3  By  "  sole"  I  think  is  to  be  understood  the  image  of  the  sun  reflected 
in  the  water,  as  in  the  next  words,  the  image  of  the  moon. 


B.  vm.  43—78.  ^ENEID.  279 

are  overpast.  And  now,  that  you  may  not  imagine  sleep  forms 
these  as  visionary  images,  under  the  elms  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  you  will  find  a  sow  lying,  that  has  faiTowed  a  litter  of 
thirty  young,  white  the  dam,  reclining  on  the  ground,  her  off- 
spring white  around  her  dugs.  That  place  shall  be  the  station 
for  your  city,  a  sure  rest  from  your  toils ;  in  consequence  of 
which,  after  a  revolution  of  thrice  ten  years,  Ascanius  shall 
build  the  city  Alba  of  illustrious  name.  Events  I  foretell  not 
uncertain.  Now  attend ;  I  will  briefly  show  by  what  means 
you  may  accomplish  with  success  the  work  in  hand.  On 
these  coasts  the  Arcadians,  a  race  from  Pallas  descended 
(who,  hither  accompanying  their  king  Evander  and  his  stand- 
ard, have  chosen  their  place  [of  residence],  and  in  the  mount- 
ains built  a  city  [called]  Pallanteum,4  from  the  name  of  their 
ancestor  Pallas),  perpetually  carry  on  war  with  the  Latin  na- 
tion :  admit  them  as  confederates  of  your  camp,  and  with 
them  join  league.  Myself  will  conduct  you  along  my  banks 
and  river  straight  on  your  way,  that  borne  up  [by  my  aid] 
you  may  with  oars  surmount  the  adverse  stream.  Arise,  be- 
stir yourself,  O  goddess-born,  and  with  the  first-setting  stars 
offer  prayers  to  Juno  in  due  form,  and  by  suppliant  vows  over- 
come her  resentment  and  threats.  To  me  you  shall  pay 
honor  when  victorious.  I  am  he  whom  you  behold  gliding 
along  the  banks  with  my  full  stream,  and  dividing  the  fertile 
lands ;  the  azure  Tiber,  a  river  highly  favored  by  heaven. 
Here  is  my  spacious  mansion ;  near  lofty  cities  my  fountain 
springs.  He  said,  then  in  the  deep  pool  the  river-god 
plunged,  diving  to  the  bottom :  from  ^Eneas  night  and  sleep 
departed.  He  started  up,  and  viewing  the  rising  beams  of  the 
ethereal  sun,  in  his  hollow  palms  with  pious  form  he  raised 
water  from  the  river,  and  poured  forth  to  heaven  these  words  : 
Ye  nymphs,  ye  Laurentine  nymphs,  whence  rivers  have  their 
origin  !  and  thou,  O  father  Tiber,  with  thy  sacred  river !  re- 
ceive ^Eneas,  and  defend  him  at  length  from  dangers.  In 
whatever  source  thy  lake  contains  thee  compassionate  to  our 

4  Evander,  an  Arcadian,  and  the  grandson  of  Pallas,  left  his  native 
city,  Pallanteum,  probably  in  consequence  of  parricide,  committed  at  the 
instigation  of  his  mother  Nicostrata,  or  Carmentis  (Servius  on  vs.  51), 
and  founded  a  city  in  Latium,  called  after  the  mother  state.  Dionys. 
Hal.  L  p.  25,  ed.  Sylb.  Aurel.  Victor  de  or.  Rom.  Gent.  v.  3.  Afterward 
the  Romans  called  it  the  Palatium.  It  was  the  most  sacred  and  hal- 
lowed part  of  Rome,  as  Mamertinus  remarks,  Paneg.  Vett.  i.  B. 


280  ^ENEID.  B.  vni.  79—110. 

misfortunes,  from  whatever  soil  thou  springest  forth  most 
beauteous.  Horn-bearing  river,  monarch  of  the  Italian 
streams,  ever  shalt  thou  be  honored  with  my  veneration,6 
ever  with  my  offerings  :  Oh  grant  us  by  thy  present  aid,  and 
by  nearer  aid  confirm  thy  divine  oracles.  Thus  he  speaks ; 
and  from  his  fleet  singles  out  two  galleys,  and  furnishes  them 
with  implements  for  rowing ;  at  the  same  time  supplies  his" 
friends  with  arms.  But  lo  !  a  prodigy  sudden  and  strange  to 
sight,  a  milk-white  sow  of  similar  color  with  her  white 
young,  lay  along  the  wood,  and  was  seen  on  the  verdant 
bank ;  which  to  thee,  O  sovereign  Juno,  even  to  thee,  pious 
JEaeas  devotes  as  an  offering,  and  presents  before  thy  altar 
with  her  offspring.  The  Tiber,  all  that  night  long,  calmed 
his  swelling  river,  and  refluent  with  a  silent  stream  subsided 
to  such  a  degree,  that,  like  a  mild  pool  and  peaceful  lake,  he 
smoothed  his  watery  plain,  that  there  might  be  no  need  of 
struggling  with  the  oar.  Therefore  with  auspicious  cheers 
they  speed  their  commenced  voyage:  the  well-pitched  fir 
glides  along  the  stream  :  the  waves  admire,  the  woods,  unac- 
customed to  the  sight,  survey  with  wonder  the  far-gleaming 
shields  of  heroes,  and  the  painted  keels  floating  on  the  river. 
Their  steerage  night  and  day  they  laboring  ply,  overpass 
the  long  windings  [of  the  river],  are  screened  with  various 
trees,'  and  cut  the  green  woods,  as  they  move  along  the 
smooth  glassy  plain. 

The  scorching  sun  had  ascended  the  mid  region  of  the 
sky,  when  at  a  distance  they  descry  the  walls,  the  fort,  and 
the  roofs  of  houses  here  and  there,  which  now  the  Roman 
power  hath  raised  to  heaven :  Evander  then  possessed  the 
scanty  domains.  They  turn  their  prows  to  land  without  de- 
lay, and  approach  the  city.  On  that  day  the  Arcadian  king 
chanced  to  be  offering  a  solemn  sacrifice  before  the  city  in  a 
grove  to  the  great  [Hercules],  Amphitryon's  son,*  and  to  the 
gods.  At  the  same  time  his  son  Pallas,"  and  with  him  all  the 


5  "  Honor"  refers   to   acts   of  worship,   "  donis"  to   offerings  made 
therein.     So  lav.  viii.  33,  "arae  sacrificiis  fument,  honore,  donis  cumu- 
lentur."     B. 

6  Which  overhung  the  banks  on  both  sides.     B. 

7  i.  e.  reputed  son,  being  really  the  son  of  Jove.     B. 

^  Pallas,  the  son  of  Evander,  was  sent  with  a  body  of  troops  to  assist 
-<Eneas,  and,  after  performing  many  gallant  deeds,  was  killed  by  Turnus. 


B.  vin.  111—148.  yENEID.  281 

youth  of  quality,  and  the  poor9  senate,  were  offering  incense  ; 
and  the  tepid  blood  smoked  at  the  altars.  Soon  as  they  ob- 
serve the  tall  vessels  gliding  toward  them  amid  the  shady 
grove,  and  that  [the  crew]  were  bending  to  the  silent  oars, 
they  are  startled  at  the  sudden  sight,  and  leaving  their  ban- 
quets, all  rise  up  at  once ;  whom  Pallas  boldly  forbids  to  in- 
terrupt the  sacred  rites,  and  snatching  up  a  javelin  flies  him- 
self to  meet  them,  and  at  a  distance  speaks  from  a  rising 
ground :  Youths,  what  motives  have  induced  you  to  attempt 
an  unknown  way  ?  whither  are  you  bound  ?  who  are  you  by 
descent  ?  whence  came  you  ?  peace  bring  you  hither  or  war  ? 
Then  father  .^Eneas  thus  from  the  lofty  deck  replies,  and  in  his 
hand  before  him  extends  a  branch  of  peaceful  olive.:  The 
sons  of  Troy  you  see,  and  arms  hostile  to  the  Latins,  who  have 
exiled  and  driven  us  out  by  haughty  war.  To  Evander  we 
repair.  Bear  him  these  tidings,  and -say,  Dardania's  chosen 
chiefs  are  come,  imploring  his  confederate  arms.  Pallas,  struck 
with  so  great  a  name,  stood  amazed :  Land,  he  says,  whoever 
thou  art,  address  my  father  in  person,  and  come  under  our 
roof  as  a  guest.  Then  he  grasped  him  by  the  hand,  and  clung 
closely  to  his  right  hand.  Advancing,  they  enter  the  grove, 
and  leave  the  river.  Then  with  courteous  accents  JEneas 
addresses  the  king :  Worthiest  of  the  sons  of  Greece,  to  whom 
fortune  hath  led  me  to  make  my  supplication,  and  to  spread 
forth  these  boughs,  with  suppliant  wreaths  adorned ;  I  truly 
had  no  apprehension  from  your  being  a  Grecian  leader  and  an 
Arcadian,  or  from  your  being  originally  allied  to  the  two  sons 
of  Atreus ;  but  my  own  uprightness,  the  holy  oracles  of  the 
gods,  the  affinity  of  our  ancestors,  and  your  fame  propagated 
over  the  earth,  have  bound  you  to  me  in  friendship,  and  by 
fate  urged  me  hither  a  willing  guest.  Dardanus,  the  first 
father  and  founder  of  the  city  Ilium,1  °  born  of  Electra,  the 
daughter  of  Atlas,  as  the  Greeks  record,  to  the  Trojans  steered 
his  course :  the  mighty  Atlas,  who  on  his  shoulders  props  the 
celestial  orbs,  gave  to  the  world  Electra.  Your  father  is 
Mercury,  whom  bright  Maia  having  conceived,  on  Cyllene's 

9  This  phrase  elegantly  expresses  the  humble  resources  of  the  times. 
The  observation  of  Servius  deserves  notice,  "  libri  veterum  tradunt  a 
majoribus  sacrificando  parsimoniam  observatam  esse."    B. 

10  Ilium,  the  citadel  of  Troy,  generally  taken  for  the  city  itself,  so 
named  from  Ilus,  one  of  the  Trojan  kings. 


282  ^ENEID.  B.  vm.  149—179 

frozen  top  brought  forth.  But  Atlas,  if  we  may  give  any 
credit  to  tradition,  the  same  Atlas  who  supports  the  stars  of 
heaven,  begot  Maia.  Thus  from  one  stock  both  our  stems 
divide.  Relying  on  these  circumstances,  I  had  not  recourse 
to  embassies,  nor  artfully  employed  preliminary  means  of 
sounding  your  inclination :  myself  and  my  own  life  I  have 
exposed,  and  am  come  a  suppliant  to  your  threshold.  The 
same  Daunian  nation,11  which  pursues  you  with  cruel  Avar, 
if  they  once  expel  us,  nothing  they  presume  will  hinder  them 
from  entirely  reducing  all  Hesperia  under  their  yoke,  and 
from  being  masters  of  the  sea,  both  that  above,  and  that  which 
washes  it  below.12  Take,  and  give  pledges  of  faith.  With 
us  are  stout  hearts  for  war,  with  us  are  valiant  souls,  and  youth 
tried  and  approved  in  action. 

^Eneas  said.  Evander  had  all  along  with  attention  sur- 
veyed his  mouth  and  eyes,  and  whole  body  as  he  spoke.  Then 
thus  he  briefly  replies  :  Most  gallant  of  the  Trojan  race,  how 
gladly  do  I  receive  and  recognize  you  !  how  well  I  recollect 
the  words,  the  voice,  and  features  of  your  great  sire  Anchises  ! 
For  I  remember  that  Priam,  Laomedon's  son,  in  his  way  to 
Salamis,13  to  visit  the  realms  of  his  sister  Hesione,  [continuing 
his  progress]  forward,  visited  likewise  Arcadia's  frozen  coasts. 
Then  manhood  first  shaded  my  cheek  with  down  :  I  admired 
the  Trojan  chiefs ;  Laomedon's  son  in  particular14  I  admired , 
but  Anchises  walked  more  majestic  than  all  of  them :  my  soul 
burned  with  youthful  desire  to  accost  the  hero,  and  join  hand 
in  hand.  I  came  up  and  fondly  led  him  to  the  walls  of  Phe- 
neus.1*  He  at  departing  gave  me  a  splendid  quiver,  and 
Lycian  arrows,  a  mantle  interwoven  with  gold,  and  two 
bridles  with  golden  bosses,  of  which  my  son  Pallas  is  now 
possessed.  Therefore  I  both  join  my  right  hand  with  you  in 

11  Daunian  nation  :  Daunus,  a  son  of  Pilumnus  and  Danae,  and  father 
of  Turnus,  came  from  Illyricum  into  Apulia,  where  he  reigned  over  part 
of  the  country,  from  him  called  Daunia. 

12  i.  e.  the  Adriatic  and  Tyrrhenian  Seas.     B. 

13  Salamis  (Coulouri),  an  island  of  Greece  in  the  Saronic  Gulf,  near 
the  coast  of  Attica,     Hesione,  a  daughter  of  Laomedon,  king  of  Troy, 
and  sister  to  Priam.     Hercules,  having  delivered  her  from  a  sea-monster 
to  which  she  was  exposed,  gave  her  in  marriage  to  Telamon,  king  of 
Salamis. 

"  Ipsum"  is  emphatic,  in  opposition  to  "  duces  Teucros."     B. 
13  Pheneus  (Phonia),  a  town  of  Arcadia,  near  Mount  Cyllene. 


B.  vnL  180—206.  -iENEID.  283 

league  as  you  desire  :  and,  when  first  the  morrow's  light  shall 
to  earth  return,  I  will  dismiss  you  joyful  with  supplies,  and 
aid  you  with  my  power.  Meanwhile,  since  hither  you  are 
come  as  our  friends,  with  willing  minds  celebrate  with  us  this 
anniversary  festival,  which  to  defer  is  impiety,  and  even  now 
accustom  yourselves  to  the  banquets  of  your  allies.  Thus 
having  said,  he  orders  the  dishes  and  cups  which  had  been 
removed,  to  be  replaced,  and  himself  plants  the  heroes  on  the 
grassy  seat :  and  JEneas  in  chief  he  compliments  with  a  couch 
and  the  fur  of  -a  shaggy  lion,  and  invites  him  to  share  his 
maple  throne.  Then  with  earnestness  the  chosen  youths  and 
priest  of  the  altar  bring  forward  the  roasted  joints  of  the 
bullocks,  heap  in  canisters  the  gifts  of  labored  Ceres18  and 
dispense  the  joys  of  Bacchus.  ^Eneas,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  Trojan  youth,  feast  on  the  chine  and  hallowed  entrails  of  an 
entire  ox. 

As  soon  as  hunger  was  assuaged,  and  the  lust  of  eating 
stayed,  king  Evander  says :  Not  superstition  vain,  and  ignor- 
ant of  the  ancient  gods,  hath  imposed  on  us  these  solemn  rites, 
these  banquets  in  due  form,  this  altr.r  to  so  great  a  -deity : 
from  cruel  dangers  saved,  my  Trojan  guest,  we  perform  these 
rites,17  and  renew  merited  honors.  Now  first  observe  this 
rock  suspended  on  crags ;  how  the  huge  piles  are  scattered 
far  abroad,  and  the  mountainous  abode  stands  desolate,  and 
the  cliffs  have  dragged  down  mighty  ruin  [in  .their  fall]. 
Here,  in  a  vast  recess,  far  removed  from  sight,  was  a  cave, 
which  the  hideous  figure  of  the  but  half-human  Cacus18  pos- 
sessed, inaccessible  to  the  sunbeams;  and  ever  with  recent 
bloodshed  the  pavement  smoked;  and  affixed  to  the  haughty 
entrance  hung  the  heads  of  men  all  pale  with  piteous  gore. 
Vulcan  was  this  monster's  father ;  whose  sooty  flames  belch- 
ing from  his  mouth,  he  stalked  with  bulk  enormous.  Time 
at  length  to  us  also  brought  the  wished-for  aid  and  presence 
of  a  god :  for  Hercules,  the  illustrious  avenger,  seasonably 
arrived,  proud  from  the  death  and  spoils  of  three-bodied 
Greryon ;  and  victorious  drove  his  stately  bulls  this  way :  and 

15  i.  e.  "  of  Ceres  wrought  for  use,"  a  periphrasis  for  "  bread."     B. 

17  Anthon  renders:  "we  do  all  this."  But  it  seems  better  to  give 
"  facimus"  its  sacrificial  sense.  B. 

H  Cacus,  the  son  of  Vulcan  and  Medusa,  a  notorious  robber,  slain  by 
Hercules. 


284  JENEID.  B.  viii.  207 — 242. 

the  heifers  possessed  the  valley  and  the  river.  But  the  mind 
of  Cacus,  maddened  by  the  Furies,  lest  any  villainy  or  fraudu- 
lent practice  might  be  undevised  or  unattempted,  he  abstracts 
from  their  stalls  four  bullocks  of  exquisite  make,  and  as  many 
heifers  of  form  surpassing:  and  these,  lest  there  should  be 
any  prints  of  their  feet  direct,  having  dragged  toward  the 
cave  by  the  tail,  and  hurried  along  with  the  traces  of  their 
way  reversed,  he  concealed  in  his  gloomy  den.  No  signs19 
led  the  searcher  to  the  cave.  Meanwhile,  when  now  the  hero 
was  moving  from  their  stalls  his  full-fed  herds,  and  preparing 
to  be  gone,  the  heifers,  at  parting,  began  to  low,  the  whole 
grove  was  filled  with  their  plaintive  notes,  and  the  hills  with 
clamorous  din  were  cleft.  One  of  the  heifers  returned  the 
sound,  and  pent  up  in  the  spacious  cave  rebellowed,  and  frustrated 
the  hope  of  Cacus.  Then,  indeed,  from  his  black  gall  the  hero's 
indignation  kindled  into  fury :  in  his  hand  he  snatches  up  arms, 
and  his  oak  ponderous  with  knots,  and  with  speed  seeks  the 
summit  of  the  airy  mountain.  Then  first  our  men  beheld  Cacus 
dismayed,  and  by  his  eyes  betraying  confusion.  Instantly  he 
flies  swifter  than  the  east  wind,  and  seeks  the  cave :  fear 
added  wings  to  his  feet.  Soon  as  he  had  shut  himself  in,  and 
bursting  the  chains  in  haste,  let  down  the  enormous  rock, 
which,  by  iron"0  wrought  by  his  father's  art,  was  suspended, 
and  on  bolts  relying  made  fast  the  gates ;  lo !  the  Tirynthian 
hero  transported  with  fury  was  upon  him,  and,  examining 
every  passage,  hither  and  thither  rolled  his  eyes,  gnashing 
with  his  teeth.  Boiling  with  ire,  he  thrico  surveys  the  whole 
Aventine  mount ;  thrice  in  vain  essays  the  gates  of  rock ; 
thrice  in  the  vale  fatigued  he  sat  down  to  rest.  A  sharp  flinty 
rock  stood  forth,  with  broken  cliiFs  in  the  points  around ;  on 
the  ridge  of  the  cave  rose,  towering  to  the  sight,  a  convenient 
shelter  for  the  nests  of  inauspicious  birds.  This,  where, 
bending  forward  with  its  brow,  it  overhung  the  river  on  the 
left,  [the  hero],  opposite  to  it  o  i  ths  right,  with  strained  effort 
shook,  and  from  the  deep  roots  uptorn  disjoined ;  then  on  a 
sudden  impelled  it :  with  which  impulse  the  sky  in  its  wide 
extent  resounds,  the  banks  leap  hither  and  thither,  and  the 
affrighted  river  runs  back.  And  now  the  den  and  spacious 
hall  of  Cacus,  bared  of  covering,  appeared,  and  his  gloomy 

:B  Because  the  footprints  pointed  the  wrong  way.     B. 
?°  I  consider  this  as  an  hendiadys.     P. 


B.  Tin.  243—272.  uENEID.  285 

caverns  in  their  inmost  recesses  were  laid  open ;  just  as  if  by 
some  violence  the  earth,  in  her  deep  recesses  yawning  wide, 
should  unlock  the  infernal  mansions,  and  disclose  those  pale 
realms  abhorred  by  the  gods,  and  from  above  the  hideous  gulf 
be  seen,  and  the  ghosts  be  terrified  at  the  light"  darted  in 
upon  them.  Him,  therefore,  suddenly  surprised  in  the  unex- 
pected light,  imprisoned  in  his  excavated  rock,  and  in  strange 
manner  braying,  Alcides  from  above  galls  with  darts,  calls 
every  weapon  to  his  aid,  and  plies  him  with  boughs  of  trees 
and  ponderous  stones.22  But  he  (for  now  no  refuge  from  the 
danger  remains)  from  his  jaws  vomits  up  vast  quantities  of 
smoke,  wondrous  to  tell!  and  involves  the  cave  in  pitchy 
vapor,  snatching  all  power  of  sight  from  the  eye  ;  and  deep 
in  his  cave  shoots  up  in  wreaths  a  night  of  smoke,  inter- 
mingling fire  with  darkness.  Alcides  in  his  rage  could  not 
endure  this,  but  with  an  impetuous  spring  threw  himself 
amid  the  flame,  where  the  smoke  drives  its  waves  thickest, 
and  the  capacious  den  fluctuates  with  pitchy  vapor.  Here, 
in  his  darkened  cell,  he  seizes  Cacus  disgorging  unavailing 
flames,  grasping  him  like  a  knot ;  then,  griping  fast,  keeps 
choking  him  until  his  eyes  start  from  their  sockets,  and  his 
throat  is  drained  of  blood.  Forthwith,  the  doors  being 
wrenched,  the  grim  mansion  is  laid  open  ;  the  heifers  that  had 
been  filched  away,  and  the  stolen  effects  abjured,23  are  exposed 
to  the  sky ;  and  the  deformed  carcass  is  dragged  forth  by  the 
feet.  They  are  unable  to  satiate  their  curiosity  with  gazing 
on  his  haggard  eyes,  his  countenance,  and  the  breast  of  the 
half-savage  shaggy  with  bristly  hair,  and  the  extinguished 
fires  in  his  throat.  From  that  time  the  honors  [of  the  hero] 
have  been  celebrated,  and  posterity  with  joy  have  observed 
the  day :  and  Potitius,24  the  first  founder,  and  the  Pinarian 
family,  the  guardian  of  this  institution  sacred  to  Hercules, 
erected  this  altar  in  the  grove,  which  shall  both  be  styled  by 
us  the  Great,  and  the  Great  shall  be  forever.26  Wherefore 

21  Compare  Silius  v.  618,  "Manesque  profundi  Antiquum   expavere 
diem."    B. 

22  Literally,  "millstones."    B. 

23  i.  e.  which  he  had  denied  the  possession  of,  on  oath.     B. 

24  Potitius  and  Pinarius,  Arcadians  who  came  with  Evander  to  Italy, 
and  were  intrusted  with  the  sacrifices  of  Hercules. 

25  Concerning  this  altar  Livy  puts  the  following  words  in  the  mouth  of 
Evander,  addressing  himself  to  Hercules:  "Jove  nate,  Hercules  salve, 


286  ^NEID.  B.  vm.  273 — 295. 

come,  0  youths,  in  celebrating  virtue  so  illustrious,  encircle 
your  locks  with  a  garland,  and  stretch  forth  your  goblets  in 
your  hands,  invoke  our  common  god,  and  offer  the  wine  with 
good  will.  He  said :  when  with  its  Herculean  shade  the 
poplar  of  varying  hue  both  decked  his  locks,  and  with  its  leaves 
entwined  hung  down ;  and  a  sacred  goblet  filled  his  right 
hand.  Quickly  all  with  joy  pour  libations  on  the  table,  and 
supplicate  the  gods.  Meanwhile  the  sphere  of  day  declining, 
evening  draws  nearer  on ;  and  now  the  priests,  and  Potitius 
at  their  head,  marched  in  procession,  clad  in  skins,  according 
to  custom,  and  bore  flaming  torches.  They  renew  the  feast, 
and  introduce  the  grateful  offerings  of  the  second  service,28 
and  heap  the  altars  with  loaded  chargers.  Then  round  the 
altars  smoking  with  perfumes,  the  Salii"  amid  songs  ad- 
vance, having  their  temples  bound  with  poplar  boughs;  [in 
two  bands  they  divide,]  the  one  a  choir  of  youths,  the  other  of 
aged  men ;  who  celebrate  the  praises  of  Hercules  and  his 
deeds  in  verse  :  how  with  his  hand  he  slew  the  first  [sent] 
monsters  of  his  step-mother  [Juno],  and  squeezing  strangled 
her  two  snakes ;  how  in  war  the  same  hero  overthrew  illus- 
trious cities,  both  Troy  and  QEchalia  ;58  how,  under  king  Eu- 
rystheus,"'  by  the  destination  of  unfriendly  Juno,  he  endured  a 
thousand  grievous  toils.  Thou,  invincible,  dost  with  thy  arm 
[subdue]  the  cloud-born,  double-membered  Centaurs,  Hylaeus 
and  Pholus;  thou  subduest  Cretan  monsters,  and  the  huge 
overgrown  lion  under  the  rock  of  Nemea.30  For  fear  of  thee 

te  mihi  mater  veridica  interpres  Deum  aucturum  coelestium  numerum 
cecinit,  tibique  aram  hie  dicatum  iri,  quam  opulentissima  in  terris  gens 
maximam  vocet,  tuoque  ritu  colat."  The  reason  of  the  name  is  given  by 
Dionysius,  that  this  being  the  altar  whereon  Hercules  himself  offered 
the  tithes  of  his  spoils,  it  became  on  that  account  the  object  of  chief 
veneration,  and  was  called  Maxima  to  distinguish  it  from  the  numerous 
other  altars  which  that  hero  had  in  Italy. 

*  t.  e.  the  evening  repast,  as  shown  by  "Weichart.     The  other  had 
taken  place  at  mid-day.     B. 

87  Salii,  an  order  of  priests  at  Rome,  who  had  the  charge  of  the 
sacred  shields  called  Ancilia,  which  they  carried  every  year,  on  the  first 
of  March,  in  a  solemn  procession  round  the  walls  of  Rome,  dancing  and 
singing  praises  to  the  god  Mars. 

88  (Echalia,  a  country  of  Laconia  in  Peloponnesus,  with  a  town  of  the 
same  name,  where  Eurytus  reigned,  and  which  was  destroyed  by  Hercules. 

29  Eurystheus,  the  brother  and  taskmaster  of  Hercules. 

30  Nemea,  a  town  of  Argolis  in  Peloponnesus,  near  which  Hercules  per- 
formed his  first  labor  by  killing  the  celebrated  Nemean  lion. 


B.  vin.  296—326.  ^ENEID.  287 

the  Stygian  lakes,  for  fear  of  thee  the  porter  of  hell  did  trem- 
ble, cowering  down  in  his  bloody  den  upon  his  half-gnawed 
bones :  nor  did  any  forms  throw  thee  into  consternation  ;  not 
Typhoeus31  himself,  of  towering  height,  with  arms  in  hand : 
thee,  not  perplexed,  the  Lernaean  snake,  many-headed  monster, 
around  beset.  Hail,  undoubted  offspring  of  Jove,  added  to 
the  gods  as  a  glory :  visit  both  us  and  these  thy  sacred  rites 
with  thy  auspicious  presence.  Such  deeds  they  celebrate  in 
song :  above  all,  they  subjoin  the  den  of  Cacus,  and  himself, 
breathing  flames.  The  whole  grove  rings  with  the  din,  and 
the  hills  resound. 

Then,  having  finished  the  divine  service,  all  hie  back  to  the 
city.  The  king,  oppressed  with  age,  sets  forward  ;  and,  as  he 
walked  along,  had  ^Eneas  to  accompany  him,  and  his  son  by 
his  side,  and  with  various  discourse  relieved  [the  tediousness 
of]  the  way.  ^Eneas  admires,  and  turns  his  rolling"  eyes 
around  on  every  object ;  is  charmed  with  the  different  places ; 
and  inquires  and  learns  the  several  monuments  of  the  men  of 
antiquity. 

Then  king  Evander,  the  founder  of  the  Eoman  power,  [thus 
began]  :  These  groves  the  native  Fauns  and  Nymphs  pos- 
sessed, and  a  race  of  men  sprung  from  the  trunks  of  trees  and 
stubborn  oak ;  who  had  neither  laws  nor  refinement ;  knew 
neither  to  yoke  the  steer,  nor  to  gather  wealth,  nor  to  use  their 
acquisitions  with  moderation ;  but  the  branches,  and  hunting, 
a  rough  source  of  sustenance,  supplied  them  with  food.  From 
the  ethereal  sky  Saturn  first  came,  flying  from  the  arms  of 
Jove,  and  an  exile  dispossessed  of  his  realms.  He  formed 
into  society  a  race  undisciplined  and  dispersed  among  the  high 
mountains,"  and  introduced  laws ;  and  chose  to  have  the  coun- 
try named  Latium,  because  in  these  regions  he  had  lurked  se- 
cure. Under  his  reign  was  the  golden  age  which  they 
celebrate  :  in  such  undisturbed  tranquillity  he  ruled  his  sub- 
jects ;  till  by  degrees  an  age  more  depraved,  and  of  an  inferior 

31  Typhoeus,  a  famous  giant,  son  of  Tartarus  and  Terra,  said  to  have 
had  a  hundred  heads  like  those  of  a  serpent  or  a  dragon.  He  made  war 
upon  the  gods,  but  Jupiter  put  him  to  flight  with  his  thunderbolts,  and 
crushed  him  under  Mount  JEtna,  in  Sicily,  or,  according  to  some, 
the  island  Inarime  (Ischia). 

33  "faciles,"  i.  e.  easily  bending  and  turning  hi  all  directions. 


288  .<ENEID.  B.  vm.  32t— 337. 

hue,  and  the  fury  of  war,  and  love  of  gain,33  succeeded. 
Then  came  the  Ausonian  bands,  and  the  Sicilian  nations ;  and 
the  Saturnian  land  often  changed  its  name.  Then  [came  a 
succession  of]  kings,  and  fierce  Tybris  of  gigantic  make,  from 
whom  we  Italians  in  after  times  named  the  river  Tiber ;  an- 
cient Albula  lost  its  true  name.  Me,  from  my  country  driven, 
and  tracing  the  remote  tracks  of  the  sea,  almighty  fortune  and 
uncontrollable  destiny  fixed  in  these  regions :  and  the  awful 
predictions  of  my  mother,  the  nymph  Carmentis,34  and  the  god 
Apollo  by  his  authority  urged  me  [hither]. 

Scarcely  had  he  spoken,  when  setting  forward  he  shows 
him  next  both  the  altar,  and  the  gate  filled  by  a  Roman" 
name  Carmentalis,  which  they  record  to  be  the  ancient  memo- 
rial in  honor  of  the  prophetic  nymph  Carmentis,  who  first  fore- 
told the  future  grandeur  of  the  JSnean  race,  and  the  renown  of 
Pallanteum.  Next  he  points  out  the  spacious  grove  which 
Romulus  reduced  into  a  sanctuary,  and  under  a  cold  rock  the 
Lupercal,3*-so  called,  according  to  the  Arcadian  manner,  from 
Lycaean  Pan.  He  likewise  shows  the  grove  of  Argiletum,37 
sacred  [to  Argus] ;  and  calls  the  place  to  witness  his  inno- 
cence and  relates  the  death  of  Argus  his  guest.  He  leads  him 
next  to  the  Tarpeian  Rock  and  the  Capitol,  now  of  gold,  once 
rough  and  horrid  with  wild  bushes.  Even  then  the  religious 
horrors  of  the  place  awed  the  minds  of  the  timorous  swains  ; 
even  then  they  revered  the  wood  and  rock.  This  grove,  says 
he,  this  wood-topped  hill,  a  god  inhabits,  but  what  god  is  un- 
certain :  the  Arcadians  believe  they  have  seen  Jove  himself, 
when  often  with  his  right  hand  he  shook  the  blackening  aegis, 
and  roused  the  clouds  of  thunder.  Farther,  [says  he,]  yon 
two  towns  you  see  with  theif  walls  demolished,  the  remains 
and  monuments  of  ancient  heroes  :  this  city  father  Janus,  that 

33  Literally,  "of  having,"  as  in  Hor.  Ep.  L  7,  85.  So  "habendi 
fames,"  Pacatus  Paneg.  25  ;  "  finis  habendi,"  Prudent.  Hamart.  255.  B. 

3<  Carmentis,  a  prophetess  of  Arcadia,  mother  of  Evander,  with  whom 
she  came  to  Italy.  One  of  the  gates  of  Rome  was  named  after  her. 

35  But  Wagner  and  Anthon  read  ''  Romani,"  I  think,  with  little  rea- 
son. B. 

38  Lupercal,  a  place  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Aventine,  sacred  to  Pan, 
whose  festivals,  called  Lupercalia,  were  celebrated  annually. 

37  Argiletum,  a  place  at  Rome  near  the  Palatium,  where  tradesmen 
had  their  shops. 


B.  VIIL  357—383.  J5NEID.  289 

Saturnus  built ;  the  one  was  named  Janiculiun,"  the  other 
Saturuia.  In  such  mutual  talk  they  came  up  to  the  palace 
of  poor  Evander;  and  in  [that  place  where  now  are]  the 
Roman  forum  and  magnificent  streets,  they  beheld  around 
herds  of  cattle  lowing.  Soon  as  they  reached  his  abode, 
This  threshold,  he  says,  the  victorious38  Alcides  entered ; 
him  this  palace  received:  dare  then,  my  guest,  to  under- 
value magnificence,  and  do  you  too  mold  yourself  [into  a 
temper]  becoming  a  god,  and  come  not  disgusted  with  these 
our  mean  accommodations.  He  said,  and  under  the  roof  of 
his  narrow  mansion  conducted  the  magnanimous  ^Eneas,  and 
set  him  down  to  rest  on  a  bed  of  leaves,  and  the  fur  of  a  Libyan 
bear. 

Night  comes  on  apace,  and  with  her  dusky  wings  mantles 
the  earth.  Meanwhile  Venus,  the  parent-goddess,  not  without 
cause  alarmed  in  mind,  and  disturbed  both  by  the  threats 
and  fierce  uproar  of  the  Laurentines,  addresses  Vulcan,40  and 
in  her  husband's  golden  bedchamber  thus  begins,  'and  by 
her  accents  breathes  into  him  love  divine :  While  the  Grecian 
kings  by  war  were  bringing  fated  Troy  to  desolation,  and  its 
towers  doomed  to  fall  by  hostile  flames,  not  any  succor  to  the 
wretches,  nor  arms  of  thy  art  and  power,  I  craved ;  nor,  my 
dearest  spouse,  was  I  willing  to  employ  you  or  your  labors 
in  vain  ;  though  I  both  owed  much  to  the  sons  of  Priam,  and 
often  mourned  the  severe  sufferings  of  JEneas.  Now,  by 
Jove's  command,  he  hath  settled  on  the  coast  of  the  Rutulians  : 
therefore  I  the  self-same  [fond  wife]  appear  as  a  suppliant, 
and  implore  arms  from  thy  divinity  to  me  adorable,  a  mother 
for  a  son.  Thee  the  daughter  of  Nereus,  thee  the  wife  of  Ti- 

33  Janiculum,  one  of  the  Seven  hills  at  Home,  on  which  Janus  built  a 
town  of  the  same  name.  Saturnia,  an  ancient  town  of  Italy,  supposed 
to  have  been  buil  by  Saturn  on  the  Tarpeian  Rock. 

39  Prom  this  circumstance  Hercules  probably  derived  his  surname  of 
"Victor,"  having  been  received  into  "parvaregia,  sed  summaTeligione," 
as  Mamertinus  says,  Pan.  1.  See  Macrob.  Sat  iiL  6.  B. 

4U  Vulcan,  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Juno,  or  of  Juno  alone,  and  the  hus- 
band of  Venus,  was  the  god  of  fire,  and  the  patron  of  all  artists  who 
worked  in  iron  and  metals.  He  is  said  to  have  been  cast  down  from 
heaven,  and  by  his  fall  in  the  island  of  Lemnos,  to  have  broke  his  leg, 
and  ever  after  remained  lame  of  one  foot.  The  Cyclops  in  Sicily  were 
his  workmen,  and  with  him  they  fabricated,  in  his  forges,  which  were 
supposed  to  be  under  Mount  ^Etna,  not  only  the  thunderbolts  of  Jupiter, 
but  also  arms  for  the  gods  and  most  celebrated  heroes. 

13 


B.  VIII.  384 — 415. 

thonus,  by  tears  could  persuade.  See  what  nations  combine, 
what  towns,  having  shut  up  their  gates,  whet  their  swords 
against  me,  and  for  the  extirpation  of  my  people  !  The  god- 
dess said,  and,  [throwing]  her  snowy  arms  around  him, 
in  soft  embrace  caresses  him,  hesitating :  suddenly  he  caught 
the  wonted  flame;  and  the  accustomed  warmth  pierced  his 
marrow,  and  ran  thrilling  through  his  trembling  bones  :  just 
as  when  at  times,  with  forked  thunder  burst,  a  chinky  stream 
of  fire  in  flashy  lightning  shoots  athwart  the  skies.  This  his 
spouse,  well  pleased  with  her  wiles,  and  conscious  of  her  charms, 
perceived. 

Then  father  [Vulcan],  fast  bound  in  eternal  love,  thus 
speaks  :  Why  hast  thou  recourse  to  far-fetched  reasons  1  whith- 
er, goddess,  hath  thy  confidence  in  me  fled?  Hadst  thou 
been  under  the  like  concern  before,  then  too  it  had  been  a 
righteous  thing  in  me,  [at  thy  desire,]  to  arm  the  Trojans. 
Nor  did  almighty  father  Jove,  or  the  Fates,41  forbid  that 
Troy  should  stand,  or  Priam  survive  for  ten  years  more. 
And  now  if  war  you  meditate,  and  this  be  your  resolution ; 
whatever  zeal  in  my  art  I  can  promise  ;  whatever  can  be 
done  by  steel  or  liquid  electrum,"  as  far  as  the  power  of  fire 
and  breathing  engines  reach,  [you  may  depend  on  me  ;]  for- 
bear, by  solicitation,  to  bring  your  power  in  question.  Having 
spoken  these  words,  he  gave  her  the  wished  embrace,  and,  on 
the  bosom  of  his  spouse  dissolved  away,  courted  soft  repose  to 
every  limb. 

Then,  soon  as  the  first  [interval  of]  rest,  now  that  the  mid-, 
career  of  night  had  rolled  away,  had  chased  away  sleep  [fron\ 
his  eyes]  ;  what  time  the  housewife,  whose  chief  concern  it  is 
to  earn  her  living  by  the  distaff  and  poor  handiwork,*3  awakea 
the  heaped-up  embers  and  the  dormant  fires,  adding  night  to 
her  labor,  and  by  the  lighted  tapers  employs  her  maids  in  their 
long  tasks,  that  chaste  she  may  preserve  her  husband's  bed,  and 
bring  up  her  little  ones :  not  otherwise,  nor  at  that  time  less 
industrious,  the  mighty  god  of  fire  rises  from  the  soft  couch  to 
his  mechanic  labors. 

41  The  ancients  supposed  that  the  will  of  the  Fates  could  not  be  ulti- 
mately overcome,  but  that  its  execution  might  be  delayed.     See  Ser- 
viua.    B. 

42  A  mixture  of  gold  and  silver.     B. 

43  "  The  loom  yielding  but  a  scanty  reward."     ANTHON.     B. 


B.  vni.  416 — 451.  ^ENEID.  291 

Near  the  side  of  Sicily  and  ^Eolian  Lipari4'  an  island  is 
upraised  of  steep  ascent,  with  smoking  rocks ;  under  which  a 
den,  and  the  caves  of  ^Etna,  eaten  out  by  the  forges  of  the 
Cyclops,  thunder,  and  from  the  anvils  the  sturdy  strokes  in 
echoing  groans  resound,  the  bars  of  steel  hiss  in  the  caverns, 
and  the  fire  pants  in  the  furnaces  :  Vulcan's  habitation,  and  the 
land  Vulcanium  called.  Hither  then  he  of  fiery  power  de- 
scended from  the  lofty  sky.  The  Cyclops  in  their  capacious 
cave  were  working  the  steel,  Brontes,  and  Steropes,  and 
naked-limbed  Pyracmon.  In  their  hands  half-formed,  with  one 
part  already  polished,  was  a  thunderbolt,  [such  as  those]  which 
in  profusion  the  eternal  father  from  all  quarters  of  the  sky 
hurls  on  the  earth :  the  other  part  unfinished  remained. 
Three  shafts  they  had  added  of  the  wreathed  hail,  three  of 
watery  cloud,  three  of  glaring  fire  and  winged  wind.  Now 
they  were  mingling  in  the  work  alarming  flashes,  noise  and 
terror,  and  the  wrath  of  heaven  with  its  vengeful  flames.  In 
another  part  they  were  hastening  forward  a  chariot  and  nimble 
wheels  of  Mars,  by  which  he  uprouses  men  and  cities ;  and 
were  polishing  amain  the  tremendous  aegis,  the  armor  of  en- 
raged Pallas,  with  serpent's  scales  of  gold,  and  the  snakes  in 
mutual  folds  entwined,  and  (to  be  worn  on  the  breast  of  the 
goddess)  the  Gorgon's  self,  rolling  her  eyes46  after  decapita- 
tion. 

Away  with  all,  he  says,  ye  ^Etnean  Cyclops,  and  set  aside 
your  begun  labors,  and  hither  turn  your  minds.  Arms  for  a 
valiant  hero  must  be  forged ;  now  it  is  requisite  to  ply  your 
strength,  now  your  nimble  hands,  now  all  your  masterly  skill. 
Shake  off  all  delay.  Nor  more  he  said,  and  all  instantly  be- 
gan to  work,  and  equally  the  labor  shared.  Brass  and  mines 
of  gold  in  rivulets  flow  ;  and  wounding  steel  in  the  capacious 
furnace  melts.  They  mark  out  the  form  of  a  spacious  shield, 
alone  sufficient  against  all  the  weapons  of  the  Latins,  and  orbs 
in  orbs  seven-fold  involve.  Some  with  the  puffing  bellows 
receive  and  explode  the  air  by  turns ;  others  dip  the  sputter- 
ing metals  in  the  trough ;  the  cave  groans  with  the  incumbent 

44  Lipari,  anciently  the  JSolian  Islands,  on  the  northern  coast  of  Sicily; 
they  are  evidently  of  volcanic  origin, 

45  The  eyes  moved  by  a  mechanical  contrivance,  according  to  "Wagner. 
But  I  should  simply  understand  the  expression  of  the  eye  as  meant.     B. 


292  J3NEID.  B.  Tin.  452—489. 

anvils.     They  with  vast  force  alternately  lift  their  arms  in  equal 
time,  and  with  the  griping  pincers  turn  the  mass. 

While  in  the  ^Eolian  regions  the  Lemnian  sire  is  urging  on 
these  works,  the  cheering  light,  and  the  morning  songs  of 
birds  under  his  roof,  rouse  Evander  from  his  humble  mansion. 
The  veteran  arises,  and  in  his  tunic  clothes  his  limbs,  and 
binds  the  Tuscan*  sandals  round  his  feet ;  then  to  his  side  and 
shoulders  girds  his  Arcadian  sword,  doubling  back  [on  the 
right  shoulder]  a  panther's  skin  that  hung  down  from  his  left. 
Two  guardian-dogs  too  from  the  lofty  gate  march  forth,  and 
accompany  their  master's  steps.  The  hero,  mindful  of  their 
conversation,  and  the  service  he  had  promised,  hies  to  the 
apartment  and  recess  of  his  guest  tineas.  [Meanwhile] 
JEneas  no  less  early  was  on  his  way.  With  the  one  his  son 
Pallas,  with  the  other  Achates  came  in  company.  At  meeting 
they  join  hands,  seat  themselves  in  the  midst  of  the  court,  and 
at  length  enjoy  unrestrained  conversation.  The  king  thus 
first  [begins]  :  Most  mighty  leader  of  the  Trojans,  during 
whose  life  I  truly  will  never  admit  that  the  power  and  realms 
of  Troy  are  overthrown  ;  small  are  our  abilities  to  support  the 
war  in  proportion  to  so  great  a  name  :  on  the  one  hand  we 
are  bounded  by  the  Tuscan  river  [Tiber]  ;  on  the  other  hand 
the  Rutulians  press  upon  us,  and  beset  our  walls  around  with 
clashing  arms.  But  I  intend  to  join  with  you  mighty  nations 
and  camps  rich  and  royally  magnificent,  which  saving  relief 
unexpected  fortune  opens  to  our  view :  hither  you  come  in- 
cited by  the  Fates.  Not  far  from  this  spot  stands  inhabited 
jhe  city  of  Agylla,48  of  ancient  foundation,  where  heretofore 
ihe  Lydian  nation,  illustrious  in  war,  planted  a  settlement  on 
the  Tuscan  mountains.  This  city,  having  flourished  for  many 
years,  Mezentius  at  last  came  to  rule  with  imperious  sway  and 
cruel  arms.  Why  should  I  mention  his  unutterable  barbari- 
ties ?  or  why  the  tyrant's  horrid  deeds  ?  May  the  gods  rec- 
ompense them  on  his  own  head,  and  on  his  race  !  He  even 
bound  to  the  living  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  joining  together 
hands  to  hands,  and  face  to  face,  a  kind  of  torture  :  and  [the 
rictims]  pining  away  with  gore  and  putrefaction  in  this 
loathed  embrace,  he  thus  with  lingering  death  destroyed.  But 
»t  length  his  subjects,  weary  [of  his  cruelties],  in  arms  around 

afterward  called  Caere,  a  town  of  Etruria, 


B.  vnr.  490—523. 

beset  both  the  tyrant  himself  raging  past  utterance,  and  all 
his  house  :  they  assassinate  his  adherents,  hurl  flames  against 
his  roof.  He,  amid  the  massacre  making  his  escape,  flies 
for  shelter  to  the  territories  of  the  Rutulians,  and  finds  pro- 
tection from  the  arms  of  Turnus,  his  hospitable  friend. 
Therefore  all  Etruria  rose  jtvith  just  fury;  and  the  people  by 
present  war  redemand  their  king  for  punishment.  Over  these 
thousands,  ^Eneas,  I  will  assign  you  leader.-  For  all  along 
the  shore  the  vessels  ranged  in  thick  array  resound  with 
clamor ;  and  crave  to  urge  on  the  banners.  Them  an  aged 
soothsayer  restrains,  this  oracle  in  prophetic  strains  deliver- 
ing :  Ye  chosen  youths  of  Lydia,  the  flower  and  excellence  of 
ancient  heroes,  whom  just  indignation  urges  against  the  foe, 
and  Mazentius  fires  with  due  resentment ;  no  native  of  Italy 
is  destined  to  subdue  that  powerful  nation :  make  choice  of 
foreign  leaders.  Then,  overawed  by  the  declaration  of  the 
gods,  the  Tuscan  army,  respiting  their  fury,  encamped  on 
this  plain.  Tarchon"  himself  hath  sent  embassadors  with 
the  royal  crown  and  scepter,  and  to  me  commends  these  en- 
signs ;  [imploring  me]  to  repair  to  the  camp,  and  assume  the 
Tuscan  administration.  But  life  with  frozen  blood  benumbed, 
and  worn  out  with  years,  and  my  capacity  for  heroic  deeds 
superannuated,  deny  me  empire.  My  son  I  would  urge  to  it, 
were  it  not  that,  being  of  mixed  race  by  reason  of  a  Sabine 
mother,  he  derived  a  portion  of  his  country  from  this  land.  Do 
you,  most  gallant  leader  of  the  Trojans  and  Italians,  to  whose 
years  and  lineage  also  fate  is  indulgent,  you  whom  the  oracles 
invite,  enter  upon  the  task.  Him  too,  my  hope  and  solace, 
Pallas,  to  thee  I  will  join ;  under  thee  his  master  let  him  prac- 
tice to  endure  warfare,  and  the  laborious  service  of  Mars,  be 
spectator  of  thy  deeds,  and  from  his  earliest  years  make  thee 
the  object  of  his  admiration.  To  him  I  will  give  two  hun- 
dred Arcadian  horsemen,  the  chosen  strength  of  the  youth ; 
and  as  many  more  will  Pallas  give  thee  in  his  own  name. 

Thus  he  had  scarcely  spoke,  when  ^Eneas,  the  offspring  of 
Anchises,  and  trusty  Achates,  held  their  eyes  fixed  on  the 
ground,  and  with  heavy  hearts  began  to  revolve  many  hard 
thoughts,48  had  not  Cytherea  displayed  a  sign  in  the  open  air  : 

47  Tarchon,  an  Etrurian  chief,  who  assisted  ^Eneas  against  the  Rutulians. 
43  C£  Propert.  i.  15,  1,   "  Saepe  ego  mutta  tua?  levitatis  dura  time- 
bam."   -B. 


294  J3NEH).  B.  Tin.  524 — 554. 

for  unexpectedly  a  flash  of  lightning,  darted  from  the  sky, 
came  with  a  peal;49  and  suddenly  all  things  seemed  to  threate'n 
ruin,  and  the  blast  of  the  Tuscan  trumpet  rattled  through  the 
skies.  Upward  they  gaze :  again  and  again  in  dreadful  peals 
it  thunders ;  in  a  serene  quarter  of  the  heavens,  among  the 
clouds  they  observe  arms  blaze  athwart  the  clear  expanse,  and 
clashed  peal  with  thunder.  The  rest  were  astounded  with 
amazement ;  but  the  Trojan  hero  knew  the  sound  and  prom- 
ised signs  of  his  goddess-mother.  Then  [to  Evander]  he 
addressed  his  speech :  By  no  means,  my  hospitable  friend,  by 
no  means  be  anxious  to  explore  what  crisis  these  prodigies 
portend:  I  am  called  by  heaven.  My  divine  parent  foretold 
that  she  was  to  send  this  signal,  if  war  should  assail  me,  and 
that  she  would  bring  Vulcan-wrought  arms  through  the  aerial 
regions  to  my  aid.  Ah !  what  havoc  awaits  the  hapless  Lau- 
rentines !  what  ample  satisfaction  shalt  thou,  O  Turnus,  give 
me !  what  numerous  shields,  and  helmets,  and  bodies  of  gal- 
lant heroes,  shalt  thou,  father  Tiber,  roll  down  thy  streams ! 
Let  them  challenge  our  armies,  and  violate  their  leagues. 

Having  said  these  words,  he  raised  himself  from  his  lofty 
throne  :  and  first  of  all  he  wakes  the  dormant  altars  with  fires 
in  honor  of  Hercules,  and  visits  with  joy  the  Lar,™  whom 
yesterday  he  had  first  worshiped,  and  the  little  household 
gods:  with  accustomed  rites  he  offers  a  sacrifice  of  chosen 
ewes:  in  like  manner  Evander,  in  like  manner  the  Trojan 
youth.  After  this  he  repairs  to  the  ships,  and  revisits  his 
friends ;  from  whose  number  he  chooses  out  such  as  excelled 
in. valor,  to  accompany  him  to  the  war:  the  rest  by  the  de- 
scending stream  are  borne  along,  and  without  effort  glide 
down  with  the  current  of  the  river,  to  bring  Ascanius  tidings 
of  his  father,  and  of  the  affaire  in  hand.  The  Trojans,  re- 
pairing to  the  Tuscan  territories,  are  supplied  with  steeds : 
for  .(Eneas  they  led  forth  one  distinguished  from  the  rest, 
which  a  lion's  tawny  hide,  shining  before  with  gilded  claws, 
completely  covers. 

Suddenly  through  the  little  city,  the  rumor,  made  public, 

T«*  D'Orville,  Critic.  Vann.  p.  594.  compares  Quintus  Cal.  xiv.   457, 
otov  ore  arepOTryaiv  £irtj3p£fiei  uaireroc  aiBijp.     B. 

50  Lar :  the  Lares  wjere  two  in  number,  sons  of  Mercury  and  Lara,  one 
of  the  Naiads.  The  Romans  paid  them  divine  honors,  and  they  pre- 
sided over  houses  and  families. 


B.  VIIL  555—591.  ^ENEED.  295 

flies,  that  a  band  of  horses  were  swiftly  marching  to  the  court  of 
the  Tuscan  king.  Through  fear  the  matrons  redoubled  their 
vows ;  and  the  nearer  to  the  danger,  the  more  the  terror  grows, 
and  the  image  of  Mars  appears  enlarged.  Then  father  Evander, 
grasping  the  hand  [of  his  son]  as  he  was  going  away,  clings 
to  him,  weeping  beyond  measure,  and  utters  these  words :  Oh 
that  Jupiter  would  recall  my  past  years  !  [or  that  I  were  now] 
what  I  was  when,  under  the  very  walls  of  Praeneste,  I  mowed 
down  the  foremost  ranks,  and  victorious  set  heaps  of  shields 
on  fire,  and  with  this  right  hand  sent  king  Herilus"  down  to 
Tartarus  ;  to  whom  at  his  birth,  dreadful  to  relate,  his  mother 
Feronia  had  given  three  lives,  and  triple  arms  to  wield ;  thrice 
by  death  was  he  to  be  overthrown :  whom  nevertheless  this 
light  hand  then  bereft  of  all  these  lives,  and  stripped  of  as 
many  suits  of  armor !  nothing  now,  my  son,  should  part  me 
from  your  loved  embrace  :  nor  had  ever  our  neighbor  Mezen- 
tius,  insulting  over  this  person  of  mine,  by  the  sword  effected 
so  many  cruel  deaths,  bereaved  the  city  of  so  many  inhabitants. 
But,  O  ye  powers,  and  thou  Jupiter*  great  ruler  of  the  gods, 
compassionate,  I  pray,  an  Arcadian  king,  and  hear  a  father's 
prayers ;  if  your  providence  divine,  if  the  Fates  reserve  Pal- 
las for  me  in  safety,  if  I  live  destined  to  see  him  again,  and 
to  have  a  meeting  with  him,  I  pray  for  life ;  I  will  submit  to 
endure  any  hardship  whatever.  But  if,  O  fortune,  thou 
threatenest  him  with  some  disaster  not  to  be  named,  now,  oh ! 
now,  let  me  break  off  my  cruel  life,  while  my  cares  are  hover- 
ing in  suspense,  while  I  have  hope  of  the  future,  [however] 
uncertain ;  while  thee,  dear  boy,  my  late,  my  only  joy,  I  hold 
in  my  embrace :  lest  more  mournful  tidings  wound  my  ears. 
These  words  the  father  poured  forth  at  the  final  parting :  his 
attendants  bear  him  to  the  palace  fainting  away. 

And  now  the"  horse  had  gone  forth  by  the  expanded  gates  : 
among  the  foremost  ./Eneas  and  his  faithful  Achates ;  then 
other  peers  of  Troy.  Pallas  himself,  in  the  center  of  his 
troop,  appears  conspicuous  in  his  mantling  robe  and  painted 
arms;  such  as  when,  bathed  in  the  ocean's  waves,  Lucifer, 
whom  Venus  loves  beyond  the  other  starry  lights,  hath  dis- 
played his  holy  visage  in  the  heaven,  and  dispersed  the  dark- 

51  Herilus,  king  of  Prseneste,  was  son  of  Feronia,  the  goddess  of  woods 
and  orchards :  as  he  is  said  to  have  received  three  lives  from  his  mother, 
he  was  killed  three  times  by  Evander. 


296  -<ENEID.  B.  vni.  592 — 625. 

ness.  On  the  walls  the  timorous  matrons  stand,  and  follow 
with  their  eyes  the  dusty  cloud,  and  troops  gleaming  -with 
brass.  Through  the  thickets,  where  nearest  lies  the  boundary 
of  their  way,  they  march  in  arms.  Their  acclamations  rise ; 
and,  a  squadron  formed,  the  hoof  beats  with  the  trampling  din 
the  moldering  plain. 

Near  the  cold  river  of  Caere6*  is  a  spacious  grove,  sacred 
all  around  by  the  religion  of  the  fathers;  hollow  hills  on 
every  side  have  inclosed,  and  encompass  the  grove  with 
gloomy  fir.  There  is  a  tradition,  that  to  Sylvanus,  god  of 
the  fields  and  flocks,  the  ancient  Pelasgi,"  who  were  once  the 
first  possessors  of  the  Latin  territories,  consecrated  this  grove 
and  a  festival-day.  Not  far  from  this,  Tarcho  and  the  Tuscans 
kept  their  camp,  defended  by  the  ground ;  and  now  from  the 
hill  the  whole  legion  could  be  surveyed,  and  had  pitched  their 
tents  upon  the  spacious  plains.  Hither  father  ./Eneas  and  his 
youthful  band,  chosen  for  the  war,  advance,  and  fatigued  they 
tend  their  horses  and  themselves. 

Meanwhile  the  goddess  Venus  in  bright  beauty  among  the 
ethereal  clouds,  drew  nigh,  bearing  her  gifts ;  and  soon  as  at 
a  distance  she  espied  htr  son  in  a  recluse  valley,  rpart  by 
the  cold  river,  she  voluntarily  presented  herself,  and  a  idressecl 
him  in  these  words  :  Behold,  my  son,  the  presents  finished  by 
my  consort's  promised  skill ;  that  so  this  instant  you  need  not 
demur  to  challenge  either  the  insolent  Laurentines  or  fierce 
Turnus  to  the  combat.  Cytherea  said,  and  rushed  into  the 
embraces  of  her  son :  under  an  oak,  full  in  his  view,  she 
placed  the  radiant  arms.  He,  overjoyed  with  the  presents  of 
the  goddess,  and  such  signal  honor,  gazes  on  them  with  in- 
satiable fondness,  and  rolls  his  eyes  over  them  one  by  one  ;  he 
admires,  and  in  his  hands  or  arms  shifts  about  the  helmet 
terrible  with  its  crest  and  shooting  flames,  and  the  sword 
fraught  with  death,  the  corselet  stiff  with  brass,  immense,  of 
sanguine  hue;  as  when  the  azure  cloud  by  the  sunbeams  grows 
more  and  more  inflamed,  and  shines  afar ;  then  the  polished 
greaves  of  electrum  and  gold  refined,  the  spear  and  the  tex- 
ture of  the  shield  beyond  expression.  There  the  god  of  fiery 

52  Caere,  anciently  Agylla,  a  city  of  Etruria,  once  the  capital  of  the 
whole  country,  situated  on  a  small  river  east  of  Rome. 

53  Pelasgi,  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Greece,  supposed  to  be  one  01 
the  most  ancient  people  in  the  world. 


jj.  vm.  626—651.  2ENEID.  297 

power,  not  unskilled  of  prophecies,  or  ignorant  of  futurity,  had 
represented  the  Italian  history  and  triumphs  of  the  Romans  j 
there  all  the  descendants  of  the  future  race  from  Ascanius, 
and  their  battles  fought  in  order.  There,  too,  he  had  figured 
the  fostering  wolf  lying  in  the  verdant  cave  of  Mars  :  the  twin 
boys,  hanging  about  her  dugs,  to  play,  and  fearless  suck  their 
dam ;  while  she,  with  tapering  neck  reclined,  fondly  licked 
them  by  turns,  and  molded  their  bodies  with  her  tongue. 
Not  far  from  this  he  had  added  Rome,  and  the  Sabine  virgins 
lawlessly  ravished  from  the  assembly  of  the  circus  at  the  great 
Circensian"  games,  and  suddenly  a  new  war  bursting  upon  the 
sons  of  Rome,  and  aged  Tatius,"  and  the  rigid  Cures.  Next 
the  same  princes,  now  that  mutual  hostilities  are  laid  aside, 
sheathed  in  armor,  and  with  the  goblets  in  their  hands,  stood 
before  Jove's  altars,  and,  having  sacrificed  a  sow,  struck  a 
league.  Not  far  from  thence  rapid  chariots  had  torn  Metius"8 
limb  from  limb  asunder  (but  thou,  Alban,  shouldst  have  ad- 
hered to  thy  stipulations),  and  Tullus  was  dragging  the  trai- 
tor's entrails  through  the  wood;  and  the  bushes,  sprinkled 
with  his  blood,  were  dripping  wet.  Here,  too,  Porsenna" 
was  commanding  [the  Romans]  to  receive  expelled  Tarquini- 
us,  and  invested  the  city  with  close  siege.  The  Romans  in 
defense  of  liberty  were  rushing  on  the  sword.  Him  [Por- 
senna] you  might  have  seen  like  one  enraged,  and  like  one 
breathing  threats,  because  Codes  had  dared  to  beat  down  the 
bridge,  and  Clcelia,118  having  burst  her  chains,  swam  across 

54  Circensian  games  were  first  established  by  Romulus,  and  performed 
in  the  circus  at  Rome.     The  Romans,  having  invited  their  neighbors 
the  Sabines  to  the  celebration  of  these  games,  forcibly  carried  away  all 
their  females  who  had  attended. 

55  Tatius,  king  of  Cures  among  the  Sabines,  made  war  against  the 
Romans  after  the  rape  of  the  Sabine  women.     Peace  having  been  made 
between  the  two  nations,  Tatius  shared  the  royal  authority  with  Romulus. 

56  Metius,  dictator  of  Alba  in  the  reign  of  Tullus  Hostilius.     He  be- 
came subject  to  the  Romans  by  the  combat  of  the  Horatii  and  Curiatii, 
but  afterward  proving  faithless,  Tullus  put  him  to  death  by  placing  him 
between  two  chariots,  which  were  drawn  by  four  horses  different  ways. 

57  Porsenna,  king  of  Etruria,  who  made  war  upon  the  Romans  in 
favor  of  Tarquin,  and  attempted  in  vain  to  replace  him  on  the  throne. 
Codes  (Pub.  Horat),  a  noble  Roman,  who  greatly  signalized  himself  by 
alone  opposing  for  a  time  the  whole  army  of  Porsenna. 

53  Cloelia,  a  Roman  virgin,  who  having  been  given  with  other  maidens 
as  hostages  to  Porsenna,  escaped  from  her  confinement,  and  swam  across 
the  Tiber  to  Rome. 

13* 


298  ^ENTSID.  B.  vra.  652 — 682. 

the  river.  On  the  summit  [of  the  shield]  Manlius,"  guardian 
of  the  Tarpeian  tower,  before  the  temple  stood,  and  defended 
the  lofty  Capitol ;  and  the  palace,  as  newly  thatched  with 
Romulean  straw,  appeared  rough.  And  here  a  goose  in  silver, 
fluttering  athwart  the  gilded  galleries,  gave  warning  that  the 
Gauls  were  just  at  hand  :  the  Gauls  were  advancing  along  the 
thickets,  and  were  seizing  the  fort,  protected  by  the  darkness 
and  benefit  of  dusky  night.  Of  gold  their  tresses  were,  and 
of  gold  their  vestments ;  in  striped  mantelets  they  shine ;  then 
their  milk-white  necks  are  girt  with  gold  :  two  Alpine  javelins 
each  in  his  hand  brandishes,  having  their  bodies  protected  with 
long  bucklers.  Here  he  had  embossed  the  dancing  Salii,  and 
the  naked  priests  of  Pan,  the  caps  tufted  with  wool,  and  the 
shields  that  fell  from  heaven  :  chaste  matrons  in  soft  carriages 
were  conducting  the  sacred  pageants  through  the  city.  To 
these  in  remoter  prospect  he  likewise  adds  the  Tartarean  man- 
sions, Pluto's  profound  realms,  the  sufferings  of  the  damned ; 
and  thee,  Catiline,80  suspended  from  a  threatening  rock,  and 
trembling  at  the  faces  of  the  Furies  ;  and  the  good  apart  [from 
the  wicked,  with]  Cato'1  dispensing  laws  to  them.  Amid  these 
scenes  the  image  of  the  swelling  ocean  was  widely  dif- 
fused in  gold  ;  but  the  seas  foamed  with  hoary  waves,  and  all 
around  conspicuous  in  silver  the  wheeling  dolphins  swept  the 
seas  with  their  tails,  and  cut  the  tide.  In  the  midst  were 
to  be  seen  fleets  with  brazen  prows,  the  fight  of  Actium ;" 
and  you  could  discern  Leucate  all  in  a  ferment  with  the 
marshaled  war,  and  the  billows  brightly  displayed  in  gold. 
On  one  side  is  Augustus  Caesar  conducting  the  Italians  to  the 
engagement,  with  the  senators  and  people,  the  domestic  dei- 
ties, and  the  great  gods,  standing  on  the  lofty  stern ;  whose 
auspicious  temples  dart  forth  two  flames,  and  on  whose  crest 
his  father's  star  is  displayed.  In  another  part  Agrippa," 

59  Manlius  (Marcus),  a  celebrated  Roman,  surnamed  Capitolinus,  for 
his  gallant  defense  of  the  Capitol  against  the  Gauls  under  Brennus. 
Manliu3  was  afterward  accused  of  ambitious  designs,  and  having  been 
condemned,  he  was  thrown  down  from  the  Tarpeian  Rock. 

v>  Catiline,  a  noble  Roman,  but  cruel,  and  of  the  most  depraved  habits. 
He  conspired  against  the  liberties  of  his  country,  and  perished  in  battle, 
B.  c.  63. 

61  Cato  the  major  is  meant. 

52  Actium,  the  seat  of  the  final  victory  of  Augustus. 

53  Agrippa,  a  celebrated  Roman,  who  fevored  the  interest  of  Augustus 


B.  vin.  682 — 706.  JENEID.  299 

with  winds  and  gods  propitious,  stands  aloft64  leading  his 
squadron ;  for  whom,  proud  badge  of  warfare,  his  brows  are 
adorned  with  a  naval  crown's  refulgent  beak.  On  the  other 
side  victorious  Antony,65  with  barbarian  supplies  and  various 
troops,  brings  up  with  him,  from  the  nations  of  the  morning, 
and  the  coasts  of  the  Red  Sea,  Egypt,"  the  strength  of  the 
east,  and  Bactra,  the  boundary  of  his  empire ;  and  him  fol- 
lows, oh  foul  disgrace !  his  Egyptian  spouse  Cleopatra.'7  All 
are  rushing  on  together,  and  the  whole  watery  plain  foams 
convulsed  with  the  laboring  oars  and  trident-beaks.  They 
make  for  the  deep :  you  would  have  imagined,  that  the  Cy- 
clades  uptorn  were  floating  on  the  main,  or  lofty  mountains 
encountering  mountains  :  with  such  force  the  warriors  in  their 
turreted  ships  urge  on  the  attack.  From  their  hands  flaming 
balls  of  tow,  and  from  missile-engines  the  winged  steel  is 
flung :  Neptune's  fields  redden  with  the  first  slaughter.  In 
the  midst  the  queen  rouses  her  squadrons  with  her  country's 
sistrum  ;  nor  as  yet  regards  the  two  snakes  behind  her.68  Her 
monstrous  gods  of  every  form,  and  barking  Anubis,69  opposed 
to  Neptune,  Venus,  and  Minerva,  are  wielding  their  weapons. 
In  the  midst  of  the  combat  Mars  sculptured  in  iron  storms, 
and  the  grim  Furies  from  the  sky ;  and  Discord,  with  her 
mantle  rent,  stalks  well  pleased,  whom  Bellona  follows  with 
her  bloody  scourge.  Apollo  of  Actium,  viewing  these  things 
from  above,  was  bending  his  bow  :  with  the  terror  thereof  all 
Egypt  and  the  Indians,  the  Arabs  and  Sabajans,  all  were 

at  the  battles  of  Actium  and  Philippi,  where  he  behaved  with  great 
valor. 

64  "arduus"  refers  to  his  position  on  the  stern  of  his  ship.     B. 

65  Mark  Antony,  the  Roman  triumvir.     After  his  defeat  in  the  battle 
of  Actium,  he  fled  to,  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  where  he  stabbed  himself, 

B.  C.  30. 

66  Egypt,  a  celebrated  country  of  Africa,  watered  by  the  Nile ;  bound- 
ed by  the  Red  Sea  (Arabian  Gulf)  on  the  east,  and  by  Libya  on  the  west 

67  Cleopatra,  queen  of  Egypt,  daughter  of  Ptolemy  Auletes,  was  cele- 
brated for  her  beauty  and  mental  acquirements,  as  also  for  her  intrigues 
and  licentious  life.     Cleopatra  supported  the  cause  of  her  favorite  An- 
tony against  Augustus  at  the  battle  of  Actium,  but  by  flying  with  sixty 
sail,  contributed  to  his  defeat ;  she  then  retired  to  Egypt,  where,  to 
avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  Augustus,  she  destroyed  herself  by  the 
bite  of  an  asp,  B.  c.  30.     At  her  death  Egypt  became  a  Roman  province. 

68  i.  e.  she  does  not  foresee  her  end.    B. 

69  Anubis,  an  Egyptian  god,  represented  with  the  head  of  a  dog. 


300  ^ENEID.  B.  viii.  707 — 731. 

turning  their  backs.  The  queen  herself,  invoking  the  winds, 
seemed  to  sail,  and  with  eager  haste  to  be  letting  loose  the 
uncoiled  cables.  Her,  the  god  of  fire,  had  represented  arnid 
the  slaughter,  driven  along  by  waves  and  winds,  pale  with  the 
[terrors  of]  approaching  death ;  and  opposite  [he  had  sculp- 
tured] the  Nile  with  his  gigantic  form  in  deep  distress,  ex- 
panding his  skirts,  and  with  all  his  robe  displayed,  calling  the 
vanquished  into  his  azure  bosom  and  sheltering  streams. 
Caesar  again,  having  in  triple  triumph  entered  the  walls  of 
Rome,  was  consecrating  through  all  the  city  three  hundred 
stately  temples,  his  immortal  vow  to  the  Italian  gods.  The 
streets  rung  with  joy,  and  games,  and  acclamations.  In  all 
the  temples  are  choirs  of  matrons  ;  and  in  all  the  temples  al- 
tars. Before  the  altars  the  sacrificed  bullocks  cover  the 
ground.  Augustus  himself,  seated  in  the  snow-white  porch  of 
shining  Phoebus,  reviews  the  offerings  of  the  people,  and  fits 
them  to  the  stately  pillars.  In  long  orderly  procession  the 
vanquished  nations  march,  as  various  in  the  fashion  of  their 
garb  and  arms  as  in  their  language.  Here  Mulciber  had 
figured  the  Numidian  race,  and  the  Africans  loose  in  their 
attire ;  here  the  Leleges,70  the  Carians,  and  Geloni  armed  with 
arrows.  Euphrates  now  flowed  with  gentler  streams ;  the 
Morini,"  remotest  of  the  human  race,  [appeared,]  and  the  two- 
horned  Rhine,  the  untamed  Dahse,  and  the  Araxes,™  that  dis- 
dained a  bridge. 

Such  scenes  on  Vulcan's  shield,  the  present  of  his  parent- 
goddess,  the  hero  views  with  wonder,  and  [though]  a  stran- 
ger to  the  events,  rejoices  in  their  representation,  and  on 
his  shoulder  bears  aloft  the  fame  and  fortune  of  his  descend- 
ants. 

70  Leleges,  a  wandering  people  who  originally  inhabited  Caria,  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  who  fought  in  the  Trojan  war  under  their  king  Altes. 

"  Morini,  a  people  of  Belgic  Gaul,  on  the  shores  of  the  British  Ocean. 

7*  Araxes  (Arras),  a  large  river  of  Asia,  falling  into  the  Caspian  Sea ; 
it  swept  away  a  bridge  which  Alexander  the  Great  built  over  it. 


B.  IX.  1—26.  ^ENEID.  301 


BOOK  IX. 

In  the  Ninth  Book,  Turnus,  availing  himself  of  ^Eneas'  absence,  makes  a 
furious  assault  upon  his  camp.  The  Trojans,  reduced  to  the  utmost  ex- 
tremity, dispatch  to  JEneas,  Nisus  and  Euryalus,  whose  immortal  friend- 
ship in  this  perilous  adventure,  is  painted  in  the  most  glowing  language. 
Turnus  attacks  the  city,  but  is  forced,  after  making  a  great  slaughter, 
to  save  himself  by  swimming  the  Tiber. 

AND  while  these  transactions  were  carrying  on  in  a  far  dif- 
ferent quarter,  Saturnian  Juno  sent  Iris  from  heaven  to  daring 
Turnus.  Turnus  then  by  chance  was  sitting  at  rest  in  the 
grove  of  his  progenitor  Pilumnus,  in  a  consecrated  vale ; 
whom  thus  the  daughter  of  Thaumas1  with  rosy  lips  bespoke  : 
What  none  of  the  gods,  O  Turnus,  could  dare  to  promise  to 
thy  wishes,  lo  !  revolving  time  hath  of  itself  brought  about ! 
JEneas,  having  abandoned  his  city,  his  friends,  and  fleet,  hath 
repaired  to  the  realms  and  abode  of  Palantine  Evander.  And, 
not  content  with  that,  he  hath  penetrated  to  the  remotest  cities 
of  Corythus,*  and  arms  a  band  of  Lydians,  rustics,  whom  he 
has  drawn  together.  Why  do  you  demur  ?  now  is  the  time 
to  call  for  your  steeds,  now  your  chariots.  Break  off  all  delay, 
and  seize  his  camp  while  in  disorder.  She  said,  and  on  poised 
wings  raised  herself  to  heaven,  and  in  her  flight  cut  the  spa- 
cious bow  beneath  the  clouds.  The  youth  knew  [the  goddess], 
and,  stretching  forth  both  hands  to  heaven,  with  these  accents 
pursued  her  flying :  Iris,  thou  glory  of  heaven,  who  sent  thee 
down  to  me  on  earth  shot  from  the  clouds  ?  whence  arises, 
on  a  sudden,  this  so  bright  a  sky  ?  I  see  heaven  in  the  midst 
cleave  asunder,3  and  stars  wandering  athwart  the  firmament. 
Signs  so  illustrious  will  I  obey,  whoever  thou  art  who  sum- 
monest  me  to  arms.  .  And  thus  having  said,  he  repaired  to 
the  river,  and  from  the  surface  of  the  stream  drew  water,  in- 
voking the  gods  at  large ;  and  loaded  heaven  with  vows. 

And  now  on  the  open  plains  his  whole  army  marched,  rich 
in  steeds,  rich  in  embroidered  vests  and  gold.  Messapus 

1  Thaumas,  a  son  of  Neptune  and  Terra,  who  married  Electro,  one  01 
the  Oceanides,  by  whom  he  had  Iris,  the  Harpies,  etc. 

2  The  mythic  founder  of  Cortona,  here  put  for  the  city  itself.     B. 

3  "  Discedere"  is  a  customary  term  in  describing  this  prodigy,  as  in 
Cicer.  de  Div.  i.  43.     Jul.   Obseq.  de  Prod.  p.  60.     Compare  Plutarch. 
Timol.   p.   239,   eSot-ev  al<t>vi6ewc  payevra    rbv    oiipavbv   inrtp   rf/f  viut, 

noTiv  nal  nepi<f>av£(  TO  irvp.     B. 


302  ^ENEID.  B.  ix.  27—65. 

commands  the  van,  the  sons  of  Tyrrhus  in  the  rear ;  in  the 
center  king  Turnus  moves  along,  wielding  his  arms,  and  over- 
tops the  rest  by  the  whole  head.4  As  the  deep  Ganges,  fed 
with  seven  peaceful  rivers,  in  silence  [flows] ;  or,  as  the  Nile, 
with  its  fertilizing  waters,  when  from  the  plains  he  has  re- 
tired, and  now  lodges  himself  within  his  channel.  Here  the 
Trojans  descry  a  sudden  cloud  condensed  in  wreaths  of  black- 
ening dust,  and  darkness  rising  on  the  plains.  Caicus  first 
from  the  opposite  rampart  calls  forth :  What  numerous  bands, 
O  citizens,  are  hither  rolling  in  a  black  cloud  of  dust  ?  Quick, 
bring  arms,  give  darts,  mount  the  walls:  haste,  the  foe  is  at 
hand.  With  loud  outcry  the  Trojans  block  themselves  up 
within  all  their  gates,  and  man  the  walls :  for  thus  JEneas, 
most  accomplished  in  arms,  at  departing  had  ordered ;  that, 
if  any  accident  should  befall  in  the  interim,  they  would  not 
venture  to  set  their  army  in  array,  nor  trust  to  the  field  ;  only 
guard  their  camp  and  walls  secured  by  a  rampart.  There- 
fore, though  shame  and  indignation  prompt  them  to  engage, 
yet  they  barricade  their  gates  against  [the  foe],  execute  the 
orders  [of  their  chief],  and  in  arms  expect  the  enemy  within 
their  holy  turrets. 

Turnus,  flying  out  before,  had  got  the  start  of  his  sturdy 
band,  accompanied  with  twenty  chosen  horse,  and  unexpected 
comes  upon  the  city ;  whom  a  Thracian  steed  with  white  spots 
bears,  and  a  golden  helmet  with  crimson  crest  defends. 
Which  of  you  youths  first  will  join  me  to  attack  the  foe  ?  See 
here,  he  cries,  and  brandishing  his  javelin,  darts  it  into  the  air, 
the  prelude  of  the  fight ;  and  mounted  aloft  he  rushes  to  the 
field.  With  shouts  his  friends  second  the  motion,  and  follow 
with  dreadful-sounding  din:  they  wonder  at  the  faint-heart- 
edness  of  the  Trojans,  that  they  venture  not  themselves  in  the 
equal  field,  nor  oppose  arms  [to  arms],  but  lie  loitering  in  the 
camp.  Turbulent  with  ire,  hither  and  thither  on  his  steed  he 
surveys  the  walls,  and  by  every  pathless  pass  explores  access. 
As  when  a  wolf,  in  ambush  for  a  full  cot  of  sheep,  lies  growl- 
ing at  the  folds,  enduring  winds  and  rains  at  midnight ;  under 
their  dams  the  lambkins  in  safety  bleat ;  he,  fierce  and  ruth- 
less with  ire,  rages  against  the  absent  prey :  his  ravenous 
hunger  by  length  of  time  contracted,  and  his  blood-thirsty 
jaws,  pinch  him  incessantly:  just  so  the  Rutulian's  anger 

4  This  line  is  a  spurious  repetition  from  JEu.  vii.  784.     B. 


B.  ix.  65-100.  ^JNEID.  303 

kindles,  while  he  views  the  walls  and  camp ;  and  within  his 
hard  bones  anguish  burns,  [exploring]  by  what  means  he  may 
tempt  access,  and  now  force  the  inclosed  Trojans  from  their 
intrencbment,  and  pour  them  forth  into  the  plain.  Their  fleet, 
which,  adjoining  the  side  of  their  camp,  lay  concealed,  fenced 
around  with  ramparts  and  the  streams  of  the  river,  he  assails ; 
loudly  calls  for  flames  from  his  triumphing  followers;  and 
ardent  fills  his  hand  with  a  blazing  pine.  Then  indeed  they 
exert  themselves  strenuously :  the  presence  of  Turnus  urges 
them  on,  and  the  whole  youth  are  armed  with  black  torches. 
They  pillage  the  hearths :  the  smoky  brand  send  up  a  pitchy 
light,  and  the  flames  hurl  mingled  ashes  to  the  stars. 

Ye  muses,  say,  what  god  averted  from  the  Trojans  so  fierce 
a  conflagration  ?  who  from  the  ships  repelled  such  mighty 
flames  ?  Ancient  h  the  testimony  of  the  fact,  but  immortal  is 
its-  fame. 

At  the  time  when  ./Eneas  first  formed  his  fleet  on  Phrygian 
Ida,  and  prepared  to  launch  into  the  deep,  Bereeynthia5  her- 
self, the  mother  of  the  gods,  is  said  to  have  addressed  great 
Jove  in  these  words :  At  my  request,  O  son,  bestow  what 
thy  dear  parent  from  thee  craves,  now  that  Olympus  is  sub- 
dued. On  a  lofty  mountain  stood  a  piny  wood  by  me  many 
years  beloved,  shaded  with  gloomy  firs,  and  the  maples' 
boughs,  whither  they  brought  me  sacred  offerings :  these 
trees  I  with  pleasure  gave  to  the  young  Trojan  hero,  when 
he  wanted  a  fleet :  now  anxious  dread  [on  their  account] 
presses  my  unquiet  mind.  Dissipate  my  fears,  and  let  a 
parent  by  her  prayers  obtain,  that  by  no  voyage  they  may  be 
shattered,  or  by  whirling  blast  of  wind  subdued :  let  it  avail 
them  that  from  our  mountains,  they  sprung.  To  her  in  reply 
her  son,  who  rolls  the  stars  of  the  universe,  said  :  "  Whither, 
my  parent-goddess,  art  thou  urging  destiny  ?  or  what  is  thy 
aim  in  this  request?  Shall  vessels  built  by  mortal  hands 
enjoy  an  immortal  privilege,  and  ./Eneas,  insured  of  safety, 
run  the  round  of  dubious  peril  ?  in  what  god  is  so  great  power 
lodged  ?  However,  when,  having  finished  their  course,  they 
shall  reach  the  goal  and  the  Ausonian  ports,  whichever  of 
them  hereafter  shall  have  escaped  the  waves,  and  carried  the 
Dardanian  chief  to  the  Laurentian  fields,  I  will  divest  them 

5  Berecynthia,  a  name  of  Cybele,  from  Mount  Berecynthus  in  Phrygia, 
where  she  was  worshiped. 


304  ^ENEID.  B.  rx.  101—133 

of  their  mortal  form,  and  command  to  be  goddesses  of  the 
spacious  ocean ;  such  as  the  daughters  of  xNereus,  Doto,  and 
Galatea,  who  cut  with  their  breasts  the  foaming  deep.  He 
said:  and  in  sign  of  its  being  ratified  by  the  rivers  of  his 
Stygian  brother,  by  those  banks  that  roll  with  torrents  of 
pitch  and  black  whirlpools,  nods  his  head  ;  and  with  that  nod 
he  made  heaven's  whole  frame  to  tremble. 

The  promised  day  was  therefore  come,  and  the  Fates  had 
filled  up  the  destined  periods  of  time,  when  the  outrage  of 
Turnus  called  on  the  mother  [of  the  gods]  to  repel  the  fire- 
brands from  her  sacred  ships.  Here  first  an  unusual  light 
flashed  forth  on  the  eyes  [of  the  Trojans],  and  from  the  east 
a  vast  refulgent  cloud  was  seen  to  shoot  athwart  the  sky,  and 
[in  it]  her  choirs  of  priests  ;*  then  through  the  air  a  tremen- 
dous voice  drops  from  above,  and  fills  the  hosts  both  of  Tro- 
jans and  Rutulians :  Be  in  no  hurry,7  ye  Trojans,  to  protect 
my  ships,  nor  arm  your  hands ;  sooner  to  Turnus  it  shall  be 
given  to  burn  up  the  seas  than  those  sacred  pines.  Glide  on 
at  your  liberty,  glide  ye  on,  goddesses  of  the  main  ;  the  parent 
[of  the  gods]  commands.  And  forthwith  from  the  banks  the 
ships  break  each  away  her  halsers,  and  dolphin-like  diving 
with  their  beaks  plunge  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Thence, 
wondrous  prodigy,  so  many  virgin-forms  rise  up,  and  ride 
along  the  main,  as  brazen  prows  had  before  stood  ranged 
along  the  shore.  The  Rutulians  stoop  astonished  in  their 
minds ;  Messapus  himself,  his  steeds  being  startled,  is  seized 
with  consternation ;  the  river  too  makes  a  pause,  resounding 
hoarsely,  and  Tiberinus  recalls  his  current8  from  the  deep. 

But  the  confidence  of  daring  Turnus  abated  not ;  he  briskly 
raises  their  spirits  with  his  words,  and  briskly  chides  [their 
fears] :  Against  the  Trojans  are  these  portents  aimed ;  from 
them  even  Jove  himself  hath  withdrawn  his  wonted  aid ; 
[their  ships]  wait  not  the  darts  or  fires  of  the  Rutulians. 
Therefore  the  seas  are  inaccessible  to  the  Trojans,  nor  have 
they  any  hopes  of  flight ;  from  one  half  of  the  globe  they  are 
cut  off;  ancTthe  land  [the  other  half]  is  in  our  hands;  so 
many  armed  thousands  the  Italian  nations  bring  to  our  aid. 
To  me  the  fatal  responses  of  the  gods,  whatever  they  are  to 

6  i.  e.  the  Corybantes,  Curetes,  and  the  Idaei  Dactyli.     B. 

7  "  trepidate"  is  explained  as  equivalent  to  "  festinate"  by  Nonius  i.  7. 13. 

8  Literally,  "  his  foot."    B. 


B.  ix.  134— 16f.  JENEID.  305 

which  the  Phrygians  pretend,  give  no  concern.  '  To  the  Fates 
and  Venus  enough  is  given,  that  the  Trojans  have  reached 
the  lands  of  fruitful  Ausonia.  I  too,  on  the  other  hand,  have 
my  destiny,  to  extirpate  with  the  sword  the  accursed  race, 
being  robbed  of  my  spouse  :  nor  does  the  painful  sense  of 
that  indignity  move  only  the  sons  of  Atreus,9  nor  to  Mycenae 
alone  is  license  given  to  take  up  arms  [in  such  a  cause]. 
But  [perhaps]  it  is  enough  that  they  fell  once  :  [doubtless], 
had  they  thought  it  enough  to  commit  the  same  crime  but 
once  before,  having  conceived  almost  a  total  aversion  toward 
the  whole  race  of  women.  They  whom  this  confidence  in 
their  intervening  rampart,  whom  the  temporary  defenses  of 
their  trenches,  narrow  partitions  from  death,  inspire  with  so 
much  courage  ;  have  they  not  seen  the  walls  of  Troy,  built  by 
the  hand  of  Neptune,  sink  down  in  flames  ?  But,  my  chosen 
warriors,  who  prepares  to  storm  their  ramparts  sword  in  hand, 
and  with  me  invades  their  disordered  camp  ?  To  me  there 
is  no  need  of  Vulcan-wrought  armor,  or  of  a  thousand  ships 
against  the  Trojans.  Let  all  the  Tuscans  this  instant,  con- 
nect themselves  with  them  in  alliance  :  they  need  not  fear  the 
night,  and  the  dastardly  theft  of  the  Palladium,  slaying  the 
guards  of  [Minerva's]  lofty  tower;10  nor  will  we  hide  our- 
selves in  the  dark  womb  of  a  horse  ;  we  are  resolved  openly  by 
day  to  surround  their  walls  with  fire.  I  shall  make  them 
sensible  that  they  have  not  to  do  with  Greeks  and  Argive 
striplings,  whom  Hector  kept  at  bay  till  the  tenth  year.  Now 
then,  since  the  better  part  of  the  day  is  past,  for  what  remains, 
my  men,  as  things  have  [thus  far]  succeeded  well,  cheerfully 
refresh  your  bodies,  and  prepared  expect  the  fight.  Mean- 
while to  Messapus  is  assigned  the  charge  to  beset  their  gates 
with  sentinels,  and  inclose  their  ramparts  with  watch-fires. 
Twice  seven  Rutulians  are  chosen  out  to  guard  the  walls ; 
and  those  are  followed  each  by  a  hundred  youths  Avaving  their 
purple  plumes,  and  glittering  with  gold ;  they  patrol  around, 
and  mount  guard  by  turns,  and  by  turns  stretched  along  the 
grass  they  indulge  the  wine,  and  drain11  the  brazen  bowls. 
The  fires  together  shine  ;  in  play  the  guards  spend  the  sleep- 

9  Alluding  to  the  abduction  of  Helen.     B. 

10  Turnus  sneers  at  the  conduct  of  Ulysses  and  Diomede.    See  ./En.  ii. 
164  sqq.     B. 

11  Compare  Virgil's  use  of  "  vergere."     B. 


306  -/ENEID.  B.  DC.  168—199. 

less  night  These  things  the  Trojans  above  from  the  ramparts 
survey,  and  in  arms  guard  their  high  posts  ;  their  gates,  too,  in 
hurrying  consternation  they  strictly  watch,  and  with  bridges 
join  the  outworks :  they  stand  to  their  arms.  Mnestheus  and 
fierce  Serestus  urge  them  on ;  whom  father  ^Eneas  appointed 
directors  of  the  youthful  bands,  and  managers  of  affairs,  if  at 
any  time  cross  accidents  should  call  them.  The  whole  legion, 
having  shared  the  danger,  by  lot  keep  guard  along  the  walls, 
and  perform  the  alternate  duties  of  the  post  which  each  has 
assigned  him  to  maintain.13 

Nisus,  the  son  of  Hyrtacus,  in  arms  most  fierce,  stood  sen- 
tinel of  the  gate ;  whom  Ida,  famed  for  hunting,  sent  the  at- 
tendant of  ^Eneas,  nimble  at  the  javelin  and  fleet  arrows  :  and 
by  his  side  his  companion  Euryalus,  than  whom  of  all  the 
followers  of  ^Eneas  no  one  was  more  comely,  and  none  [more 
graceful]  wore  the  arms  of  Troy ;  a  stripling  whose  cheeks 
were  streaked  with  the  first  bloom  of  youth.  Their  love  was 
one,  and  with  equal  eagerness  they  rushed  to  the  war :  then, 
too,  they  were  posted  in  common  to  guard  the  gate.  Nisus 
says,  Do  the  gods,  Euryalus,  infuse  this  ardor  into  our 
minds?  or  is  each  one's  earnest  inclination  his  god?13  Long 
has  my  mind  been  instigating  me  either  to  attempt  the  fight, 
or  some  great  enterprise ;  for  it  is  not  content  with  peaceful 
inaction.  You  see  what  confidence  in  the  state  of  their 
affairs  possess  the  Rutuliaus ;  their  lights  twinkle  here  and 
and  there ;  buried  in  sleep  and  wine  they  have  laid  themselves 
down;  the  places  all  around  are  hushed  in  silence.  Learn 
further  what  my  doubting  thoughts  suggest,  and  the  purpose 
which  now  rises  in  my  soul.  That  ^Eneas  should  be  invited 
home,  all,  both  the  people  and  the  higher  orders,  impor- 
tunately crave ;  and  that  messengers  be  dispatched  to  inform 
him  of  the  true  state  of  our  affairs.  If  to  thee  they  will  promise 
what  I  demand  (for,  to  myself  the  glory  of  the  exploit  is 
enough),  I  think  I  can  find  a  way  under  the  brow  of  yon  hill 
to  the  walls  and  fortifications  of  Pallanteum.  Euryalus, 
stung  with  violent  desire  of  praise,  stood  astonished ;  at  the 
same  time  he  thus  addresses  his  ardent  friend  :  Do  you  then, 
Nisus,  decline  to  admit  me  as  your  companion  in  those  high 

!2  Literally,  "  take  turns  as  to  what  is  to  be  defended."    B. 
13  "  Dime  nostris  mentibus  cupiditates  injiciunt  et  desideria  ?  An  deua 
sit  ipse  mentis  cupiditas  ?"    SEEVIUS.    B. 


B.  ix.  200—232.  -rENBID.  307 

enterprises  ?  Shall  I  send  you  away  alone  on  such  perilous 
adventures  1  It  was  not  thus  my  warlike  father  Opheltes 
instructed  me,  bred  up  amid  the  alarms  of  Greece  and  the 
disasters  of  Troy ;  nor  have  I  acted  such  a  part  in  your  com- 
pany, following  the  magnanimous  ^Eneas  and  his  fortune  in  all 
extremities.  This  soul,  this  soul  of  mine,  contemns  the  light, 
and  deems  that  honor,  to  which  you  aspire,  well  bought,  even 
at  the  expense  of  life  itself.  To  this  Nisus  [replied]  :  Believe 
me,  I  had  no  such  apprehensions  of  you  ;  nor  have  I  reason. 
No,  so  may  great  Jove,  or  whatever  god  with  a  favoring  eye 
regards  what  we  aje  about,  return  me  to  you  triumphant. 
But  if  any  chance  (as  many  such  you  see  in  an  enterprise  of 
this  hazardous  nature),  or  deity  hurry  me  on  to  adverse  fate,  I 
Avish  that  you  may  survive :  your  age  has  a  juster  claim  to 
life.  Let  me  leave  one  who  may  deposit  me  in  the  earth 
among  the  dead,  snatched  from  the  field,  or  redeemed  by  ran- 
som ;  or  who  (if  any  fortune  shall  stand  in  the  way  of  this) 
may  pay  funeral  obsequies  to  my  absent  corpse,  and  honor  me 
with  an  empty  tomb :  nor  let  me  be  the  cause  of  such  deep 
anguish  to  thy  wretched  mother,  who,  my  boy,  of  many 
mothers  alone  adventurous  follows  thee,  nor  minds  the  walls14 
of  the  great  Acestes.  But  he  rejoined  :  In  vain  you  weave 
fruitless  remonstrances,  nor  is  my  resolution  now  staggered 
from  its  first  position ;  let  us  dispatch :  at  the  same  time  he 
awakes  the  guard.  They  succeed,  and  take  their  turns  of  duty : 
having  resigned  his  post,  he  sets  forward  in  company  with 
Nisus,  and  they  seek  the  king. 

All  other  creatures  over  the  whole  earth  with  sleep  relaxed 
their  cares,  and  lost  their  toils  in  sweet  oblivion.  But  the 
Trojan  chiefs  and  select  youth  were  holding  consultation  about 
the  important  concerns  of  the  state  ;  what  they  ought  to  do, 
or  who  should  be  the  messenger  to  ^Eneas.  Leaning  on  their 
long  spears  they  stand,  wielding  their  targets,  in  the  center 
of  the  camp  and  plain.  Then  Nisus,  and  with  him  Euryaltis, 
with  prompt  alacrity,  beg  to  be  admitted ;  [alleging]  that 
their  business  was  important,  and  would  compensate  the  de- 
lay.15 In  this  their  hurry  and  trepidation  lulus  first  re- 
ceived them,  and  ordered  Nisus  to  speak.  Then  thus  Hyrta- 

14  i.  e.  nor  cares  to  tarry  at  Segesta  with  the  other  matrons.     B. 

15  i.  e.  the  delay  of  their  Counsels.    B. 


308  -(ENEID.  B.  IX.  233—265. 

cides16  [spoke]  :  Ye  followers  of  ./Eneas,  listen  with  unbiassed 
minds ;  nor  be  these  our  proposals  judged  of  by  our  years. 
The  Rutulians,  buried  in  sleep  and  wine,  have  composed  them- 
selves to  rest ;  we  ourselves  have  observed  a  place  fit  for  our 
secret  design,  that  lies  obvious  in  the  double  way  from  the 
gate  which  is  nearest  the  sea.  Their  fires  are  dying  away, 
and  a  pitchy  smoke  ascends  to  heaven.  If  you  give  us  leave 
to  'embrace  the  fortunate  occasion,  you  shall  soon  see  JEneas, 
in  quest  of  whom  we  go  to  the  walls  of  Pallanteum,  here  pres- 
ent with  spoils,  and  after  vast  havoc  made  :  nor  set  we  out 
strangers  to  the  way ;  often  in  the  shady  vales  at  hunting  have 
we  seen  the  skirts  of  the  to.wn,  and  have  surveyed  the  whole 
river. 

At  this,  Alethes,  loaded  with  years  and  matured  in  judgment, 
[said]  :  Ye  gods  of  my  country,  under  whose  divine  protection 
Troy  always  is,  [though  you  have  been  angry  with  us  for  a 
time],  yet  you  do  not  intend  utterly  to  destroy  the  Trojans, 
since  you  have  produced  such  souls,  and  such  resolute  hearts 
in  our  youth.  So  saying,  he  grasped  the  shoulders  and  hands 
of  both,  and  with  tears  his  face  and  cheeks  bedewed.  What 
rewards,  brave  youths,  what  rewards  of  worth  proportioned  to 
such  enterprises  can  I  judge  possible  to  be  conferred  upon  you  ? 
the  fairest  shall  the  gods  in  the  first  place  and  your  own  virtues 
give ;  then  the  rest  the  pious  ./Eneas  shall  anon  bestow,  and 
Ascanius,  in  his  prime  of  life,  who  never  will  forget  so  high  an 
obligation. 

But,  subjoins  Ascanius,  I,  whose  sole  happiness  depends  on 
my  father's  safe  return,  conjure  you,  Nisus,  by  our  great  do- 
mestic gods,  by  the  tutelar  deity  of  Assaracus,  and  the  shrines 
of  hoary  Vesta  (whatever  fortune  or  confident  hope17  I  have, 
I  rest  in  your  own  bosoms),  recall  my  parent,  give  back  his 
presence ;  at  his  return  all  our  sorrows  will  disappear.  Two 
goblets  of  silver  will  I  give  of  finished  work,  and  rough  with 
embossed  figures,  which  my  father  won  from  sacked  Arisba  ;lft 
and  a  pair  of  tripods,  two  great  talents  of  gold,  a  bowl  of  an- 

16  Hyrtacides,  Nisus  and  Hippocoon  are  so  styled,  from  their  father 
Hyrtacus,  who  was  a  Trojan  of  Mount  Ida 

17  i.  e.  of  my  father's  safety.     B. 

18  Arisba,  a  colony  of  the  Mityleneans  in  Troas,   destroyed  by  the 
Trojans. 


B.  it  266—306.  JBXEID.  309 

tique  cast,  which  Sidonian  Dido  gave  me.  But  if  it  shall  be 
my  fortune  to  be  victorious,  possess  myself  of  Italy,  enjoy  the 
crown,  and  divide  the  spoils  by  lot ;  saw  you  on  what  steed, 
in  what  arms  Turnus  rolled  all  in  gold  ?  that  very  shield  and 
crimson-crested  helmet  I  will  choose  out  from  the  lot ;  prizes, 

0  Nisus,  which  are  already  your  own.     Besides  the  persons 
of  twelve  select  matrons  my  sire  shall  give,  and  as  many  cap- 
tives of  the  other  sex,  and  the  arms  that  to  them  all  belong ; 
beside  these,  that  ground  which  king  Latinus  himself    pos- 
sesses.    And  as  for  you,  idolized  boy,  whom  my  age  follows 
in  the  nearer  stages  of  life,  I  now  receive  you  with  my  whole 
soul,  and  embrace  you  for  my  companion  in  all  events.     With- 
out thee  no  glory  shall  be  sought  by  my  exploits,  whether  I 
am  engaged  in  peace  or  war ;  to  thee  'chiefly  I  will  intrust 
my  acts  and  counsels.     To  whom  Euryalus  thus  replies :  No 
day  shall  evince  me  unfit  for  enterprises  so  heroic  ;  let  fortune 
fall  out  prosperous  or  adverse.     But  one  thing  above  all  favors 

1  of   thee   implore :   I  have   a   mother   of    Priam's   ancient 
race,  whom  unhappy  neither  the  land  of  Ilium,  nor  the  city  of 
king  Acestes,  could  withhold  from  going  along  with  me.     Her 
now  I  leave  a  stranger  to  this  perilous  adventure,  whatever  it 
/s,  and  without  taking  farewell ;  night,  and  this  right  hand  of 
thine,  be  witness  [for  me,  that  it  was  not  for  want  of  duty, 
but]  that  I  can  not  bear  a  mother's  tears  ;  but  comfort  her  for- 
lorn, I  beg,  and  succor  her  in  her  desolation.     Let  me  bear 
away  this  hope  from  thee ;  so  shall  I  go  with  greater  intrepidity 
on  all  adventures.     The  Trojans  with  minds  deeply  affected 
shed  tears ;  above  all,  comely  lulus  ;  and  the  image  of  parental 
affection  touched  his  soul  to  the  quick.    Then  thus  he  addresses 
[Euryalus] :    Expect  all  that  is  due  to  your  glorious  under- 
takings.    For  that  mother  of  thine  shall  be  mine,  and  only  the 
name  Creiisa  shall  be  wanting ;    nor  small   gratitude   awaits 
her  for  giving  birth  to  such  a  son,  whatever  fortune  may  at- 
tend the  deed.     I  swear  by  this  head  of  mine,  by  which  my 
father  before  me  was  wont  to  [swear],  whatever  I  promise  to 
yourself,  if  you  return  in  safety,  and  the  event  be  prosperous, 
the  same  shall  be  made  good  to  your  mother  and  kindred. 
Thus  weeping  over  him  he  speaks ;  at  the  same  time  divests 
his  shoulder  of  his  gilded  sword,  which   Cretan  Lycaon  with 
marvelous  art  had  made,  and  dexterously  fitted  to  the  ivory 
sheath.     On  Nisus,  Mnestheus  bestows  the  skin  and  spoil  of 


310  ^ENEID.  B.  ix.  307—338. 

a  grim  shaggy  lion ;  trusty  Alethes  exchanges  with  him  his 
helmet.  Forthwith  they  march  thus  armed  ;  whom  the  whole 
body  of  the  nobles,  both  young  and  old,  with  ardent  prayers 
accompany  in  their  way  to  the  gates ;  and  the  comely  lulus, 
too,  endued  with  a  soul  and  manly  concern  beyond  his  years, 
gave  them  many  instructions  to  carry  to  his  sire  ;  but  the 
winds  disperse  them  all,  and  fruitless  give  them  to  the  clouds 
away.19 

Having  set  out,  they  overpass  the  trenches,  and  amid  the 
shades  of  night  advance  to  the  hostile  camps  ;  destined,  how- 
ever, first  to  be20  the  death  of  many.  In  loose  disorder  they 
beheld  bodies  under  the  influence  of  wine  and  sleep,  stretched 
along  the  grass,  chariots  with  their  poles  erect21  along  the 
banks,  men  between  the  traces  and  the  wheels  ;  arms  together 
lying,  together  wine.  First  the  son  of  Hyrtacus  thus  spoke : 
The  right  hand,  Euryalus,  must  be  boldly  exerted  ;  now  the  oc- 
casion itself  invites  us.  Here  lies  our  way  :  watch  you,  and 
keep  guard  that  no  hand  be  able  to  lift  itself  against  us  ft  cm 
behind.  These  fields  I  will  render  waste,  and  lead  thee  along  a 
broad  pathway.  This  said,  he  suppresses  his  speech  ;  at  the 
same  time  with  his  sword  attacks  proud  Rhamnes  ;  who,  as  it 
chanced,  raised  high  on  lofty  carpets,  was  snoring  forth  sleep 
from  his  whole  breast ;  at  once  a  king  himself,  and  an  augur 
in  highest  favor  with  king  Turnus ;  but  not  by  his  augur's 
art  could  he  ward  off  the  stroke  of  death.  Three  servants  by 
his  side  lying  at  random  among  the  arms,  and  the  aimor- 
bearer  of  Remus,  and  (whom  he  found  beneath  the  very  horses' 
feet)  the  charioteer  he  stabs,  and  with  his  sword  cuts  off  their 
reclining  necks;  then  from  the  master  himself  takes  off  the 
head,  and  leaves  the  trunk  gulping  with  blood ;  in  purple 
gore  the  reeking  earth  and  beds  are  drenched.  Add  to  these 
Lamyrus,  Lamus,  and  young  Serranus,  who,  of  distinguished 
beauty,  bad  been  much  engaged  that  night  in  play,  and  was 
lying  overpowered  in  every  limb  with  the  fullness  of  the  god  ; 
happy  if,  without  intermission  he  had  equaled  that  play  with 
the  night,  and  lengthened  it  out  till  day.  As  a  famished  lion 

19  Because  both  the  messengers  perished  by  the  way.     B. 

20  "  Destined  to  be."     This  sense  of  "  futurus,"  and  similar  participles, 
is  very  common  in  Virgil.     "  Inimica"  seems  to  contain  the  notion  that 
the  camps  would  prcve  fatal  to  themselves.     B. 

21  The  horses  being  unharnessed.    B. 


»  T  f-'      *; 

*  ->-  ,* 

B.  ix.  339—370.  JENEID.  3H 

making  wild  havoc  amid  a  sheep-fold  (for  ravenous  hunger 
prompts  him  on),  grinds  and  tears  the  flock,  feeble  and  dumb 
with  fear,  and  gnashes  his  bloody  jaws :  nor  less  was  the  car- 
nage made  by  Euryalus :  he  too  ah1  on  fire  rages  throughout, 
and  in  the  middle  falls  upon  a  vulgar  nameless  throng.  Fadus 
and  Hebesus,  Rhcetus  and  Abaris,  not  dreaming  of  their  fate ; 
Rhcetus  broad  awake,  and  viewing  all ;  but  who,  for  fear,  was 
hiding  himself  behind  a  capacious  jar  ;  in  whose  opposed 
breast  now  close  at  hand  he  plunges  the  whole  blade  as  he 
rises,  and  withdrew  it  amid  abundant  death.  He  vomits  up 
the  purple  stream  of  life,  and  in  death  renders  back  his  wine 
mingled  with  blood.  The  other,  with  ardor  at  [the  success 
of  his]  stratagem,  presses  on,  and  now  was  advancing  toward 
the  social  bands  of  Messapus,  where  he  saw  the  fire  just  in 
its  extremity  dying  away,  and  the  horses  in  order  tied  crop- 
ping the  grass ;  when  Nisus  thus  briefly  says  (for  he  per- 
ceived that  they  were  hurried  on  by  too  eager  love  of  slaughter), 
Let  us  desist ;  for  the  unfriendly  light  approaches.  We  have 
glutted  ourselves  with  vengeance  to  the  full ;  a  passage  is 
made  through  our  foes.  Many  arms  of  the  heroes  [slain],  of 
solid  silver  elaborately  wrought,  they  leave  behind,  and,  to- 
gether with  them,  goblets  and  beautiful  carpets.  Euryalus 
[seized]  the  rich  trappings  of  Rhamnes,  and  the  belts  with 
golden  bosses ;  presents  which  opulent  Caedicus  of  old  had 
sent  to  Tiburtine  Remulus,"  when  in  absence  he  plighted  with 
him  a  league  of  hospitality  (he  at  death  bequeaths  the  same 
to  his  grandson  to  possess ;  and  after  his  death  the  Rutulians, 
masters  of  the  field  and  booty)  :M  these  he  seizes,  and  adjusts 
to  his  valiant  shoulders,  but  in  vain.24  Then  he  puts  on  the 
well-fitting  helmet  of  Messapus,  with  plumes  adorned.  They 
quit  the  camp,  and  take  possession  of  safe  ground. 

Meanwhile,  three  hundred  horse,  all  shielded,  with  Volscens" 

22  Remulus,  a  chief  of  Tibur,  whose  arms  were  seized  by  the  Rutulians, 
and  became  part  of  the  plunder  which  Euryalus  obtained. 

23  We  must  understand,  "  gave  them  to  Rhamnes."     Wagner  with 
reason  considers  this  line  spurious.     B. 

24  "Nequidquam"  must  be  joined  with  "aptat,"  not  with  "fortibus," 
as  is  remarked  by  Servius.     Compare  vss.  312  sq.     B. 

25  Volscens,  a  Latin  chief,  who  attacked  Nisus  and  Euryalus  as  they 
returned  from  the  plunder  of  the  Rutulians.     He  killed  Euryalus,  but 
was  himself  immediately  slain  by  Nisus. 


-<ENEID.  B.  ix.  371 — 404. 

at  their  head,  dispatched  before  from  the  city  of  Latinus, 
(while  the  rest  of  the  legion  in  battle-array  slowly  on  the  plains 
advance),  were  marching  up,  and  bore  an  answer  to  king 
Turnus.  And  now  they  were  approaching  the  camp,  and 
just  entering  the  rampart,  when  at  a  distance  they  espy  them 
turning  away  on  the  left-hand  path ;  and  in  the  glimmering 
shade  of  night  the  helmet  betrayed  the  unwary  Euryalus,  and 
opposed  to  the  beams  of  the  moon,  shot  a  gleamy  light.  Scarce- 
ly was  the  object  seen,  Volscens  from  the  troop  exclaims 
aloud  :  Stand,  fellows ;  what  motive  brings  you  hither  ?  or 
who  are  ye  thus  in  armor  ?  or  whither  are  ye  bound  ?  They 
aimed  not  at  making  a  reply ;  but  hastened  their  flight  into 
the  woods,  and  trusted  to  the  night.  On  each  side  the  horse- 
men plant  themselves  at  the  known  passes,  and  encircle  every 
avenue  with  a  guard.  There  was  a  wood  wide  overgrown 
with  stiff  underwood  and  gloomy  holms,  which  thick  bram- 
bles had  choked  up  on  every  side  ;  here  and  there  a  path  led 
through  hidden  tracks.  The  thick  shade  of  boughs  and  cum- 
brous booty  embarrass  Euryalus,  and  fear  misleads  him  from 
the  straight  way.  Nisus  retires ;  and  now  unawares  had 
escaped  from  the  foe,  and  from  the  lakes  which  in  after  times 
were  called  Albanian  from  Alba's  name ;  then  king  Latinus 
had  there  his  lofty  stables.  Soon  as  he  stopped,  and  for  his 
absent  friend  looked  back  in  vain,  [he  exclaimed  :]  Unfortu- 
nate Euryalus,  in  what  quarter  have  I  left  thee  ?  or  whither 
shall  I  follow  thee  ?  Again  measuring  back  the  whole  per- 
plexed path  of  the  mazy  wood,  he  at  once  with  accurate  sur- 
vey retraces  his  steps,  and  ranges  over  the  silent  thickets  :  he 
hears  the  steeds,  he  hears  the  bustling  noise,  and  signals  of  the 
pursuers.  Nor  long  time  intervened,  when  a  shout  assails 
his  ears,  and  he  sees  Euryalus,  whom  the  whole  band  are 
now  dragging  along  with  sudden  tumultuous  uproar,  betrayed 
and  intercepted  by  the  treachery  of  the  place  and  night,  and 
struggling  hard  in  vain.  What  shall  he  do  ?  by  what  power, 
by  what  arm  shall  he  attempt  the  youth  to  rescue  ?  shall  he, 
resolute  on  death,  fling  himself  into  the  midst  of  his  foes,  and 
through  wounds  open  a  quick  passage  to  a  glorious  death  ? 
Straight  with  his  contracted  arm  brandishing  a  javelin,  thus 
to  the  moon  on  high  with  eyes  upturned  he  addresses  his 
prayer :  Do  thou,  O  goddess,  do  thou  propitious  aid  my  enter- 


-• 

,  ' 

..»     yri^  JF  «    _-,  ^ 

B.  IX.  405 — 140.  JENEID.  313 

prise,  thou  glory  of  the  stars,58  and  daughter  of  Latona,  guard- 
ian of  the  groves :  if  ever  my  father  Hyrtacus  for  me  brought 
offerings  to  thy  altars  ;  if  ever  I  added  to  the  number  by  my 
sylvan  spoils,  or  suspended  any  in  thy  vaulted  ceiling,  or  af- 
fixed to  thy  sacred  roof ;  suffer  me  to  confound  this  congre- 
gated rout,  and  guide  my  weapons  through  the  air.  He  said, 
and  straining  at  once  with  his  whole  body,  hurls  the  steel. 
The  flying  spear  cuts  the  shades  of  night,  and  lights  on  the 
back  of  Sulmo,  who  stood  opposite  to  him  ;  and  there  is 
shivered,  and  with  the  splintered  wood  pierces  through  his 
vitals.  Down  he  falls  cold  [in  death],  discharging  from  his 
breast  the  warm  stream  of  lite,  and  with  long  sobs  beats  his 
flanks.  They  throw  their  eyes  around  different  ways.  Lo, 
he,  animated  the  more  with  this,  poised  from  the  tip  of  his 
ear37  another  weapon,  while  they  are  bustling  about.  The 
whizzing  spear  pierced  through  both  the  temples  of  Tagus, 
and  warmed  in  his  transfixed  brain  stuck  fast.  Volscens 
furious  storms,  nor  any  where  discerns  the  owner  of  the  wea- 
pon, or  one  on  whom  in  his  burning  rage  he  may  wreak  his 
vengeance.  But  you,  meanwhile,  he  says,  with  your  warm 
blood,  shall  pay  the  forfeit  of  both  :  at  the  same  time  with 
sword  unsheathed  he  rushed  on  Euryalus.  Then  indeed  in 
terrible  agony  Nisus  frantic  screams  aloud ;  nor  longer  was 
able  to  conceal  himself  in  darkness,  or  to  support  such  deep 
distress  :  On  me,  on  me,  here  am  I  who  did  the  deed,  O  turn 
your  swords  on  me,  Rutulians :  mine  is  all  the  offense  :  he 
neither  durst  nor  could  do  aught :  this  heaven  and  conscious 
stars  I  call  to  witness  ;  only  he  loved  his  unhappy  friend  too 
much.  Thus  he  spoke ;  but  the  sword  with  force  driven 
home  pierces  through  his  sides,  and  bursts  his  snow-white 
breast.  Euryalus  is  overwhelmed  in  death,  the  blood  flows 
down  his  beauteous  limbs,  and  on  his  shoulders  the  drooping 
neck  reclines :  as  when  a  purple  flower,  cut  down  by  the 
plow,  pines  away  in  death,  or  the  poppies  on  their  weary 
necks  drop  down  their  heads,  when  with  rain  they  chance  to 
be  overcharged.  But  Nisus  rushes  into  the  midst  of  them, 
and  seeks  Volscens  alone  through  all :  on  Volscens  alone  he 
fixes  his  attention ;  whom  (Nisus)  the  foes  encircling  close, 

26  So  Hor.  Carm.  See.  1,  "  Phoebe,  lucidum  coeli  decus."      Moschus, 
vii.  2,  Kvavectf  lepov  <j>i%s  WKTeq  uya.tya.     B. 

27  Virgil  expresses  the  napd  ^alrav  ptyai  of  Eurip.  Hippol.  220.     B. 


314  JENEID.  B.  E.  441— 4?8. 

this  way  and  that  way  drive  off.  He  not  less  keenly  -presses- 
on,  and  whirls  his  flashing  sword,  till  he  plunged  it  into  the 
mouth,  full  opposite,  of  the  bawling  Rutulian,  and  dying, 
bereft  his  foe  of  life.  *  Then  covered  with  wounds,  he  flung 
himself  on  his  lifeless  friend,  and  there  at  length  in  peaceful 
death  reposed.  .Happy  pair  !  if  my  verses  can  aught  avail,  no 
day  shall  ever  erase  you  from  the  records  of  time ;  while  the 
race  of  ./Eneas  shall  inhabit  the  immovable  Capitoline  rock,  and 
a  Roman  monarch  hold  the  empire  [of  the  world]. 

The  victorious  Rutulians,  masters  of  the  prey  and  spoils, 
in  mournful  procession  bore  lifeless  Volscens  to  the  camp. 
Nor  in  the  camp  was  the  mourning  less,  when  they  found 
Rhamnes  pale  in  death,  and  so  many  chiefs  slain  by  one 
slaughter,  and  Serranus,  and  Kuma.  There  is  a  great  con- 
course about  the  bodies,  about  the  expiring  warriors,  the 
ground  recent  with  warm  slaughter,  and  rivulets  full  of  foam- 
ing blood.  They  recognize  the  spoils,  and  among  themselves 
Messapus'  shining  helmet,  and  the  trappings  with  much  sweat 
regained. 

And  now  early  Aurora,  leaving  Tithonus'  saffron-colored 
bed,  sprinkled  the  earth  with  new-born  light ;  the  sun  having 
now  shed  his  beams  [on  the  world],  and  objects  by  his  light 
being  again  revealed ;  Turnus  rouses  his  men  to  arms,  him- 
self with  arms  begirt  around,  and  each  leader  rallies  to  the 
battle  his  troops  arrayed  in  brass ;  and  by  various  rumors 
they  stimulate  their  martial  rage.  Even  the  heads  of  Nisus 
and  Euryalus,  a  piteous  spectacle,  on  spears  erect  they  in  the 
front  affix,  and  with  vast  acclamation  follow.  On  the  left 
side  of  the  walls  the  hardy  Trojans  opposed  to  them  their 
host  (for  the  right  is  bounded  by  the  river) ;  and  they  maintain 
their  ample  trenches,  and  on  their  lofty  turrets  mournful  stand, 
as  soon  as  the  heads  of  the  youths  fixed  up  to  view,  but  too 
well  known  to  the  unhappy  spectators,  distilling  black  'gore, 
excited  [their  grief]. 

Meanwhile  the  winged  messenger  Fame,  flying  through  the 
affrighted  city,  rushes  along,  and  glides  to  the  ears  of  the 
mother  of  Euryalus ;  then  suddenly,  with  misery  over- 
whelmed, the  vital  warmth  forsook  her  bones.  The  weaving 
instruments  dropped  from  her  hands,  and  her  labors  were 
unraveled.  The  hapless  woman  flies  out,  and  with  female 
shrieks,  tearing  her  hair,  frantic"  takes  her  way  with  speed  to 


B.  ix.  479—511.  ^ENEID.  315 

the  walls  and  nearest  bands.  Not  of  men,  or  of  darts,  or  of 
danger,  is  she  heedful :  then  with  these  complaints  she  fills 
the  sky :  Is  this  you"  I  see,  Euryalus  ?  art  thou  that  late 
solace  for  my  old  age  ?  Cruel  one !  couldst  thou  leave  me  all 
alone  ?  and  to  thy  wretched  mother  didst  thou  not  allow  ac- 
cess to  address  to  thee  her  last  farewell,  when  on  such  peril- 
ous adventures  sent  ?  Alas !  in  a  strange  land,  given  a  prey 
to  Latian  dogs  and  fowls,  thou  liest !  nor  I,  thy  own  mother, 
laid  thee  out  for  thy  funeral  obsequies,  nor  closed  thy  eyes, 
nor  bathed  thy  wounds,  covering  thee  with  the  robe,  which 
for  thee  in  haste  I  forwarded  both  night  and  day,  and  with 
the  loom  solaced  my  aged  cares.  Whither  shall  I  go  in  pur- 
suit of  thee  ?  or  what  land  now  holds  thy  limbs,  thy  mangled 
members,  and  lacerated  corse  ?  Is  this  all  of  thee,  my  son, 
thou  bringest  me  back  ?  is  this  what  I  have  followed  both  by 
land  and  sea  ?  Pierce  me,  O  Rutulians  (if  yOu  have  any 
tenderness),  at  me  hurl  all  your  darts ;  me  first  cut  off  with 
the  sword  :  or  thou,  great  father  of  the  gods,  compassionate 
me,  and  with  thy  bolts  thrust  down  to  Tartarus  this  detested 
head,  since  I  can  by  no  other  means  shake  off  cruel  life.  By 
these  doleful  lamentations  the  minds  [of  the  Trojans]  are 
deeply  struck^  and  a  sorrowful  groan  is  heaved  from  every 
breast ;  quite  broken  and  benumbed  are  all  their  powers  for 
battle.  Idaeus  and  Actor,  by  the  direction  of  Hioneus  and 
deeply  afflicted  lulus,  seize  her  while  she  is  thus  inflaming  the 
general  grief,  and  in  their  arms  bear  her  back  to  her  dwelling. 
Meanwhile  the  trumpet  from  afar,  with  its  shrill-sounding 
brass,  chided  with  dreadful  peal.2*  Shouts  follow,  and  heaven 
echoes  back  the  sound.  The  Volscians  with  uniformity  ad- 
vance, a  testudo  being  formed.80  They  prepare  both  to  fill  up 
the  trenches  and  demolish  the  rampart.  Some  explore  access, 
and  by  scaling-ladders  [seek]  to  mount  the  walls,  where  the 
troops  are  but  thin,  and  where,  not  so  thick  of  men,  the  cir- 
cling band  is  seen  through.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Trojans, 
practiced  -by  long  war  to  defend  their  walls,  poured  on  them 
every  kind v  of  missile  weapons,  and  pushed  them  down  with 

28  "Hanc"  is  used  for  "talem."-  See  Pierius.     B. 

29  "  lucrgpuit"  Is  elegantly  used.     Servius  well  explains  it  thus :    "et 
insonuit,  et  segnitiam  increpuit."     B. 

30  Cf.  Sallust,  Jug.  94,  "  turn  vero  cohortatus  milites,  et  ipse  extra 
valum  egressus,  testudine  acta,  succedere."    B. 


316  ^ENBID.  B.  IX.  512— 543. 

sturdy  poles.  They  rolled  down  rocks  too  of  destructive 
weight,  trying  whether  they  could  break,  through  their  fenced 
battalion :  while  [the  Rutulians]  notwithstanding,  under  the 
close  fence  of  their  shields,  are  willing  to  sustain  all  dangers. 
Nor  now  are  they  able  to  stand  the  shock ;  for,  where  thick 
embodied  ranks  press  on  the  attack,  the  Trojans  roll  and  hurl 
down  an  enormous  pile,  which  made  wide  havoc  among  the 
Rutulians,  and  broke  the  fence-works  of  their  shields.  Nor 
care  the  bold  Rutulians  longer  to  contend  in  covered  fight,  but 
by  missile  weapons  strive  to  beat  them  from  the  rampart.  In 
another  quarter  Mezentius,  horrid  to  be  seen,  brandished  a 
Tuscan  pine,  and  hurls  smoky  firebrands.  Again,  Messapus, 
a  horseman  brave,  the  progeny  of  Neptune,  makes  a  breach 
in  the  rampart,  and  calls  for  ladders  against  the  walls. 

Ye  [sacred  Nine,  and  thou],  Calliope,  [in  chief]31  aid  me 
while  I  sing  what  desolations,  what  deaths  there  Turnus  then 
with  the  sword  effected,  what  hero  each  sent  down  to  Pluto ; 
and  trace  with  me  the  vast  outlines  of  the  war  :  for  ye,  O 
goddesses,  both  remember,  and  can  rehearse  them. 

Of  height  prodigious,  and  with  lofty  communications,32 
there  stood  a  tower,  commodious  in  its  situation,  which  with 
their  utmost  efforts  all  the  Latins  strove  to  storm,  and  with 
the  full  extent  of  their  resources  to  overthrow  :  the  Trojans, 
on  the  other  hand,  defended  it  with  stones,  and  flung  darts  in 
thick  volleys  through  the  hollow  loop-holes.  Turnus  in  the 
foremost  tossed  a  blazing  brand,  and  to  the  sides  [of  the  tower] 
fixed  the  flame,  which  by  the  wind  diffusely  spread,  seized  the 
boards,  and  to  the  pillars  clung  until  they  were  consumed.33 
[The  Trojans],  all  aghast,  raised  a  fearful  bustle  within,  and 
shelter  from  the  disaster  sought  in  vain.  While  they  crowd 
together,  and'retreat  into  that  part  which  is  free  from  the  con- 
tagious ruin,  then  suddenly  the  tower,  with  the  weight  [over- 
burdened], tumbled  down,  and  with  the  crash  all  heaven  thun- 
ders :  down  to  the  ground  half  dead  they  come,  an  immense 
pile  of  ruins  following,  pierced  with  their  own  weapons,  and 

31  I  have  retained  Davidson's  translation  of  this  bold  syllepsis,  for 
which,  as  Servius  remarks,  correct  language  would  require,  "vbs  Musae, 
aut  tu,  Calliope."     B. 

32  i.  e.  from  the  walls. 

33  Anthon  renders  "  partially  consumed."    But  the  other  sense  seems 
borne  out  by  Silius  i.  363,  "pluteis  Vulcanus  exercet  adesis."     B. 


B.  ix.  544—581.  .&NEID.  31 Y 

their  breasts  transfixed  with  the  iron-pointed  wood.  Helenor 
alone  and  Lycus  with  great  difficulty  escaped :  whereof  the 
elder  Helenor  (whom  the  slave  Licymnia  by  a  stolen  embrace 
had  borne  to  the  Lydian  king,  and  sent  to  Troy  in  forbidden 
arms)  was  lightly  armed  with  a  naked  sword,  and  inglorious 
with  his  escutcheon  blank.  And  as  soon  as  he  saw  himself 
amid  Turnus'  thousands,  and  on  either  hand  around  him 
ranged  the  Latin  troops ;  as  a  beast  of  chase,  which,  hemmed 
in  by  a  thick  band  of  huntsmen,  rages  against  their  darts,  will- 
fully flings  herself  on  death,  and  with  a  bound  springs  on  the 
hunters'  spear;  just  so  the  youth,  certain  to  die,  rushes  on 
his  foes,  and  where  he  sees  the  darts  thickest,  advances.  But 
Lycus,  far  more  swift  of  foot,  through  foes  and  through  arms, 
by  flight  reaches  the  walls,  and  strives  with  his  hand  to  grasp 
their  high  summits,  and  reach  the  arms  of  his  friends  :'  whom 
victorious  Turnus  at  once  with  swift  career  and  dart  pursuing, 
thus  upbraids  :  Fool,  didst  thou  hope  thou  wouldst  be  able  to 
escape  our  hands  ?  At  the  same  time  he  gripes  him  hanging, 
and  with  a  great  fragment  of  the  wall  pulls  him  down :  as 
when  Jove's  armor-bearer,  soaring  on  high,  hath  in  his 
crooked  talons  raised  aloft  either  a  hare,  or  snow-white  swan ; 
or,  sacred  to  Mars,  the  wolf  hath  snatched  from  the  folds  a 
lambkin,  by  the  dam  with  many  a  bleating  sought.  The  shout 
from  every  quarter  rises.  They  fall  on,  and  with  heaps  of 
earth  fill  up  the  trenches ;  others  to  the  battlements  toss  the 
blazing  brands.  With  a  rock,  and  vast  fragment  of  a  mount- 
ain, Bioneus  overthrows  Lucetius,  approaching  to  the  gate, 
and  armed  with  flames ;  Liger  Emathion,  Asylas  Chorinaeus, 
the  one  skilled  in  the  javelin,  the  other  in  the  far-deceiving 
arrow ;  Caeneus  [overthrows]  Ortygius,  Turnus  the  victorious 
Caeneus :  with  Itys,  plonius,  Dioxippus,  Promulus,  Sagaris, 
and  Idas  standing  in  defense  of  the  lofty  turrets :  Capys 
Privernus.  Him  the  spear  of  Themilla  at  first  had  grazed ; 
[on  which  he],  infatuate,  throwing  away  his  shield,  applied 
his  hand  to  the  wound ;  up  to  him  then  the  arrow  glides  on 
its  wings,  and  to  the  left  side  his  hand  was  nailed  :  and  deep 
lodged  within,  with  a  deadly  wound,  it  burst  the  breathing 
engines34  of  the  soul.  In  arms  illustrious  the  son  of  Arcens3* 

34  "  Definitio  pulmonum,  qui  dicuntur  a  spirando."     SERVIUS.     B. 
33  Arcens,  a  Sicilian?  who  permitted  his  son  to  accompany  ^Eneas  into 
Italy,  where  he  was  killed  by  Mezentius. 


318  jENEID.  B.  ix.  582—612. 

stood,  clad  in  an  embroidered  chlamys,  and  shining  in  Iberian 
purple,  of  distinguished  form ;  whom  his  father  Arcens  sent, 
in  the  grove  of  Mars  bred  up  about  the  streams  of  Simaethus," 
where,  fat  [with  offerings]  and  placable,  the  altar  of  Palicus" 
stands.  Mezentius  himself,  having  laid  aside  his  arms,  thrice 
whirling  around  his  head  the  thong,  discharged  a  hissing 
sling,  and  with  the  half-melted  lead  clove  his  temples  asunder 
as  he  stood  full  opposite  to  him,  and  stretched  him  at  his  full 
length  on  a  large  space  of  the  sandy  plain.  Then  for  the  first 
time  in  war  Ascanius  is  said  to  have  directed  a  fleet  arrow, 
having  been  wont  before  only  to  fright  the  fugitive  beasts  of 
chase,  and  by  his  hand  to  have  prostrated  brave  Numanus, 
whose  surname  was  Remulus,  and  who  had  to  wife  the 
younger  sister  of  Turnus,  in  wedlock  lately  joined.  Before 
the  van,  bawling  aloud  [whatever  first  occurred,  whether] 
decent  or  indecent  to  hear,  and  in  heart  puffed  up  with  his  new 
regal  honor,  he  stalked,  and  thus  with  vast  clamor  made 
his  vaunt :  Ye  Phrygians,  twice  enslaved,  are  you  not  ashamed 
to  be  a  second  time  shut  up  by  blockade  and  entrenchments, 
and  to  screen  yourselves  from  death  within  your  walls  ?  Lo, 
these  are  they,  who  by  force  of  arms  claim  to  themselves  our 
brides !  What  god,  what  madness  drove  you  to  Italy  ?  They 
are  not  the  sons  of  Atreus  you  have  here,  nor  the  crafty- 
tongued  Ulysses ;  but  a  race  hardy  from  their  original.  Our 
infants  soon  as  born  to  the  rivers  we  first  convey,  and  in  the 
rigid  icy  stream  we  harden.  In  the  chase  our  boys  are  keen, 
and  harass38  the  woods  :  their  pastime  is  to  manage  steeds,  and 
dart  the  arrow  from  the  bow.  Our  youth  again  of  labor 
patient,  and  to  frugality  inured,  either  by  the  harrow  subd  le 
the  ground,  or  batter  towns  in  war.  Our  whole  lifetime  is 
worn  out  in  arms,  and  with  the  inverted  spear  we  goad  the 
backs  of  our  steers ;  nor  does  slow  age  impair  our  strength  of 
mind,  or  alter  our  vigor.  Our  gray  hairs  we  with  the  helmet 

36  Simaethus  (Giaretti),  a  river  of  Sicily  which  falls  into  the  sea  be- 
tween Catana  and  Leontini.     In  its  neighborhood  the  gods  Palici  were 
born,  and  particularly  worshiped.  '«•,•-• 

37  As  the  Palici  (sons  of  Jove  by  the  nymph  ^Etna,  or  the  muse  Tha- 
lia) were  two  in  number,  we  should   perhaps   read  "Palicum"  with 
Cerda.     I  myself  prefer  "  Palicis,"  which  might  be  more  easily  corrupted 
from  ignorance  of  this  use  of  the  dative.     B. 

33  For  this  use  of  "fatigare,"  compare  Yal.  Flacc.  iii.  26.     So  "fatigat 
Hebrum,"  Silius  ii.  74.     B. 


B.  ix.  612—644  ^INEID.  319 

press ;  and  still  't  is  our  delight  to  sweep  together  fresh  booty, 
and  to  live  on  plunder.  Your  very  dress  is  embroidered  with 
saffron-hues  and  gaudy  purple ;  indolence  is  your  heart's  de- 
light ;  to  indulge  in  dances  you  love  ;  your  vests  have  sleeves, 
and  your  miters  ribbons.  O  Phrygian  women,  surely,  for  Phryg- 
ian men  you  can  not  be !  go  range  along  the  lofty  tops  of 
Dindymus,30  where  the  pipe  sounds  the  discordant40  note  to  you 
accustomed.  The  timbrels  and  Berecynthian  flute41  of  the 
Idaean  mother  Cybele  invite  you :  leave  arms  to  men,  and  from 
the  sword  refrain.  Him  blustering  thus  in  words,  and  proclaim- 
ing horrid  indignities,  Ascanius  could  not  bear ;  and,  fronting 
him  full,  on  the  horse-hair  string  extended  his  arrow,  and  draw- 
ing both  his  arms  to  a  wide  distance,  paused,  first  suppliant  ad- 
dressing Jove  in  vows :  Almighty  Jove,  assist  my  daring  enter- 
prise. So  to  thy  temples  will  I  bring  thee  solemn  offerings, 
and  before  thy  altars  present  a  bullock  with  a  gilded  forehead 
of  snowy  whiteness,  and  bearing  his  head  of  equal  stature  with 
his  dam,  who  already  butts  with  his  horn,  and  spurns  the  sand 
with  his  feet.  The  sire  gave  ear,  and  from  a  serene  quarter  of 
the  sky  thundered  on  the  left.  At  the  same  time  twangs  the 
deadly  bow  ;  and  Avhizzing  dreadful  flies  the  drawn-back  arrow, 
and  passes  through  the  head  of  the  Rutulian,  and  with  the  steel 
point  transfixes  his  hollow  temples.  Go,  insult  valor  in  haughty 
terms.  •  To  the  Rutulians  your  twice  subdued  Phrygians  send 
back  this  answer.  Ascanius  said  no  more.  The  Trojans  second 
him  with  acclamation,  ring  with  joyous  applauses,  and  extol  his 
valor  to  the  stars. 

In.  the  ethereal  region  fair-haired  Apollo  was  then  by 
chance  surveying  from  above  the  Ausonian  troops  and  city, 
seated  on  a  cloud,  and  thus  he  bespeak  victorious  lulus :  Go 
on,  increase  in  early  valor,  O  boy !  Such  is  the  pathway  to 
the  stars,  O  descendant  of  the  gods,  and  from  whom  gods  are 
to  descend.  Under  the  line  of  Assaracus  all  wars  by  fate  or- 
dained in  justice  shall  subside ;  nor  is  Troy  capable  of  con- 
taining thee.  At  the  same  time,  having  pronounced  these 

39  Dindymus,  a  mountain  of  Galatia  in  Asia  Minor,  where  Cybele  was 
worshiped. 

40  Literally,  "  its  twofold  tone."     "  Biforis"  simply  means  that  it  had 
but  two  perforations.     B. 

41  These  flutes  were  formed  of  box.    B. 


320  -rfENEID.  B.  ix.  645—679. 

words,  he  throws  himself  from  the  lofty  sky,  divides  the  whis- 
pering gales,  and  seeks  Ascanius  ;  then  in  the  features  of  his 
face  he  is  transformed  into  aged  Butes.  To  Dardanian  Anchises 
this  man  had  formerly  been  armor-bearer,  and  faithful  guardian 
at  the  gate  :  then  father  ^Eneas  assigned  him  the  companion 
of  Ascanius.  Thus  marched  Apollo,  in  every  thing  resembling 
the  aged  sire,  both  in  voice  and  complexion,  in  silver  locks,  and 
arms  fierce  of  rattling  din  :  and  in  these  words  he  addresses 
the  ardent  lulus  :  Offspring  of  ^Eneas,  let  it  suffice  that  by  thy 
shafts  Numanus  hath  fallen,  thyself  unhurt  :  to  thee  this  first 
glory  great  Apollo  vouchsafes,  and  envies  not  thy  similar  feats 
of  arms.  For  what  remains,  O  boy,  abstain42  from  fight.  This 
said,  Apollo  dropped  his  human  appearance,  in  the  midst  of 
the  interview,  and  into  thin  air  far  vanished  out  of  sight.  The 
Dardanian  chiefs  knew  the  god  and  his  divine  shafts,  and 
in  his  flight  perceived  his  rattling  quiver.  Therefore,  by  the 
mandate  and  divine  authority  of  Phoebus,  they  restrain  As- 
canius greedy  for  the  fight:  themselves  once  more  to  the 
combat  advance,  and  on  apparent  dangers  throw  their  lives. 
Along  the  battlements  round  the  whole  compass  of  the  walls 
their  acclamations  run  :  they  bend  the  rapid  bows,  and 
whirl  the  slings.  All  the  ground  is  strewn  with  dari.s  ;  then 
shields  and  hollow  helmets  in  the  conflict  ring  :  a  fierce  en- 
gagement ensues  ;  with  such  fury  as  a  shower  by  the  influ- 
ence of  the  rainy  Kids48  arising  from  the  west  lashes  the 
ground  ;  or  as  thick  as  storms  of  hail  come  down  headlong 
into  the  floods,  when  Jupiter  in  the  south  wind  tremendous 
hurls  down  a  watery  tempest,  and  bursts  the  hollow  clouds  in 
the  sky. 

Pandarus  and  Bitias,  sprung  from  Alcanor  of  Mount  Ida, 
whom  sylvan  Hiera  trained  up  in  Jupiter's  sacred  grove, 
youths  tall  as  their  native  firs  and  mountains,  on  their  arms 
relying,  throw  open  the  gate  which  by  their  general's  com- 
mand was  intrusted  to  their  charge,  and  from  the  ramparts 
voluntarily  challenge  the  foe.  Themselves  within,  on  right 
and  left,  before  the  turrets  stand,  armed  with  steel,  and  their 
towering  heads  with  plumes  adorned  :  as  about  the  crystal 


42  Homer  IL  A.  422,  TroAe/zou  6'  dworraveo  irufnrav.     B. 

43  These  stars  rise  in  October,  and  are  always  attended  with  rain. 
They  are  seated  in  the  constellation  Auriga.    See  Servius.     B. 


B.  DC.  680—714.  JENEID.  321 

streams,  whether  on  the  banks  of  Po,  or  by  the  pleasant 
Adige"  two  aerial  oaks  together  rise,  and  shoot  up  to  heaven 
their  unshorn  heads,  and  nod  with  their  towering  tops.  The 
Rutulians,  soon  as  they  saw  a  passage,  opened,  rush  in. 
Forthwith  Quercens,  Aquicolus  graceful  in  arms,  and  Tmarus 
in  mind  precipitant,  and  martial  Hsemon,  with  all  their  troops, 
either  routed  turned  their  backs,  or  at  the  very  threshold  of 
the  gate  laid  down  their  lives.  Then  the  hostile  minds 
[within]  grow  more  fierce  with  rage ;  and  thither  now  the 
Trojans  flock  in  thick  embodied  troops,  and  dare  to  encounter 
hand  to  hand,  and  make  sallies4'  [on  the  foe].  To  Turnus  the 
leader,  in  a  different  quarter  raving,  and  throwing  the  troops 
into  disorder,  intelligence  is  brought  that  the  enemy  rages 
with  fresh  slaughter,  and  had  set  the  gates  wide  open.  He 
quits  his  present  enterprise,  and  stirred  with  hideous  rage, 
rushes  forward  to  the  Trojan  gate,  and  the  haughty  brothers  ; 
and  first  Antiphates  (for  he  presented  himself  the  first),  the 
spurious  issue  of  noble  Sarpedon  by  a  Theban  mother,  with  a 
javelin  hurled  he  overthrows.  The  Italian  shaft4"  flies 
through  the  thin  air,  and,  piercing  the  stomach,  sinks  deep 
into  his  breast;  the  gaping  aperture  of  the  wound  emits  a 
foamy  tide  of  black  blood,  and  in  his  transfixed  lungs  the  steel 
is  warmed.  Then  Merops,  Erymas,  and  Aphidnus  with  his 
hand  he  stretches  on  the  plain;  next  Bitias,  flashing  fire  from 
his  eyes,  and  in  soul  outrageous ;  not  by  a  javelin,  for  to  the 
javelin  he  would  not  have  resigned  his  life  ;  but  a  brandished 
fiery  dart  loud  hissing  flew,  like  a  bolt  of  thunder  shot,  which 
neither  the  two  bulls'  hides  [which  formed  his  shield],  nor  his 
trusty  corselet  with  double  scales  of  gold,  were  able  to  sus- 
tain :  his  enormous  -limbs  fall  prostrate  on  the  ground.  Earth 
gives  a  groan,  and  over  him  his  buckler  thunders  loud.  As  on 
Baia's47  Euboean  shore  there  falls  at  times  a  rocky  pile,  which 
before  built  of  enormous  bulk  they  in  the  ocean  place ;  thus 
tumbling  headlong  it  draws  ruin  with  it,  and  dashed  against  the 
shallows,  sinks  to  its  rest  quite  down :  the  seas  are  all  embroiled, 

44  Adige,  the  ancient  Athesis,  a  river  of  Cisalpine  Gaul;  it  rises  in  the 
Rhoetian  Alps,  and  falls  into  the  Adriatic. 

43  Such  is  the  sense  of  "  procurrere."  See  Drakenb.  on  Silius,  vii. 
566.  B. 

46  Literally  "  cornel-wood."    B. 

47  Baia,  a  city  of  Campania,  on  a  small  bay  west  of  Naples,  and  oppo- 
site Puteoli,  said  to  have  been  founded  by  Baius,  a  companion  of  Ulysses. 

14* 


322  ^NEID.  B.  ix  714—747. 

and  tbe  black  sands  are  heaved  on  high ;  then  at  the  roaring 
noise  high  Prochyta48  trembles,  and  Inarime's  hard  bed,  thrown 
on  Typhoeus  by  Jove's  command.  Here  Mars  potent  in  arms 
inspired  the  Latins  with  additional  courage  and  prowess,  and 
deep  in  their  breast  plies  his  sharp  goad  ;  and  on  the  Trojans 
he  threw  flight  and  grim  terror.  [The  Latins]  from  every 
quarter  gather,  now  that  opportunity  of  a  battle  is  offered, 
and  the  warrior  god  hath  fallen  upon  their  minds.  Pandarus, 
soon  as  he  perceives  his  brother  stretched  at  his  length,  in 
what  situation  their  fortune  stands,  and  what  an  unexpected 
turn  is  given  to  their  affairs,  hurls  the  gate  with  vast  force  on 
the  turned  hinge,  shoving  it  along  with  his  broad  shoulders, 
and  leaves  many  of  his  friends  shut  out  from  the  city  in  the 
hard  combat ;  but  others  with  himself  he  incloses,  and  admits 
them  a?  they  pour  forward  :  infatuate  !  who  did  not  mark  the 
Rutulian  prince  amid  the  troops  rushing  upon  him,  or  eagerly 
confined  him  within  the  city,  as  a  hideous  tiger  among  the  fee- 
ble flocks.  Instantly  an  unusual  light  flashed  from  his  eyes,  and 
his  arms  sounded  dreadful ;  his  flaming  crests  tremble  on  his 
head,  and  from  his  shield  the  gleamy  lightning  darts.  The 
Trojans  suddenly  discover  his  detested  face  and  hideous  limbs, 
and  are  confounded.  Then  mighty  Pandarus  springs  out, 
and,  inflamed  with  rage  for  his  brother's  death,  addresses  him 
aloud  :  Not  Amata's  palace  thy  promised  dowry  this,  nor  is  it 
the  heart  of  Ardea  that  contains  Turnus  within  his  native 
walls.  The  hostile  camps  you  see  ;  there  is  no  possibility  of 
your  escaping  hence.  Turnus  with  mind  sedate  smiling  on 
him  [says]  :  Begin,  if  any  courage  be  in  thy  soul,  and  hand 
to  hand  with  me  engage  ;  to  Priam  you  shall  report  that  here 
too  you  found  an  Achilles.  He  said.  The  other,  exerting 
his  utmost  force,  hurls  at  him  a  spear  rough  with  knots  and 
the  green  rind.  The  air  received  the  wound;  Saturnian 
Juno  interposing  turned  it  aside,  and  the  spear  fixes  in  the 
gate.  But  not  so  this  weapon,  which  my  rigrht  hand  wields 
with  might,  shall  you  escape ;  for  not  [so  feeble  is49]  he  who 

.  •    . 

43  Prochyta  (Procida),  an  island  of  Campania,  between  the  island  of 
Inarime  and  the  coast,  Inarime  (Ischia).  an  island  near  the  coast  of 
Campania,  with  a  mountain,  under  which  Jupiter  is  feigned  to  have  con- 
fined the  giant  Tiphoeus. 

"  "Is"  is  here  used  for  "talis,"  as  "hune"  for  "talem"  in  vs. 
481.  B. 


B.  ix.  74=8—781.  jENEID.  323 

owns  the  weapon,  or  who  inflicts  the  wound.  Thus  he  said ; 
and  rises  to  his  sword  lifted  high,  and  in  the  middle  between 
the  temples,  his  forehead  with  the  blade  cleaves  asunder,  and 
[pierces]  his  beardless  cheeks  with  a  hideous  wound.  A  sound 
ensues ;  with  his  mighty  weight  earth  receives  a  shock.  In 
death  he  stretches  on  the  ground  his  stiffening  limbs,  and  arms 
bespattered  with  blood  and  brains ;  and  on  this  side  and  that 
side  his  head  in  equal  parts  from  either  shoulder  hung.  In 
tumultuous  consternation  the  Trojans  turning  their  backs,  fly 
hither  and  thither;  and  had  the  conqueror  immediately  con- 
ceived the  thought  of  tearing  away  the  bolts  with  his  hands, 
and  admitting  his  comrades  by  the  gates,  that  day  both  to  the 
war  and  [Trojan]  race  had  been  the  last :  but  fury  and  mad  de- 
sire of  slaughter  drove  him  on  the  foes  now  full  in  his  view. 
First  Phalaris  and  Gyges  (having  smitten  on  the  ham)60  he 
catches  up ;  then  seizing  their  spears,  darts  them  into  the  backs 
of  the  fugitives :  Juno  supplies  him  with  force  and  courage. 
He  joins  Halys  their  companion  [in  death],  and  Phegeus,  hav- 
ing transfixed  his  shield ;  next  Alcander  and  Halius,  Noemon 
and  Prytanis  on  the  walls,  unapprised  [of  his  admission],  and 
rousing  the  martial  spirit  [of  their  friends].  Lynceus  advancing 
against  him,  and  calling  on  his  friends,  he  from  the  rampart 
dexterously  with  his  glittering  sword  assails,  straining  every 
nerve  :  his  head,  together  with  the  helmet,  at  one  close  blow 
struck  off,  was  laid  far  off ;  the  next  [attacks  and  kills]  Amy- 
cus,  that  destroyer  of  the  savage  kind,  than  whom  no  one  was 
more  skillful  to  anoint"  the  dart,  and  arm  the  steel  with  poison  ; 
and  Clytius,  a  son  of  ^Eolus,  and  Creteus,  a  friend  to  the  Mu- 
ses ;  Creteus,  the  Muses'  companion,  who  in  the  song  and  lyre 
still  took  delight,  and  to  adapt  poetic  numbers  to  the  strings  : 
of  steeds,  and  arms,  and  combats  of  heroes  he  forever 
sang. 

At  length  the  Trojan  leaders,  Mnestheus  and  fierce  Se- 
restus,  apprised  of  the  slaughter  of  their  troops,  assemble ; 
and  perceive  their  friends  dispersed  and  the  enemy  within  the 
citv.  And  Mnestheus  calls:  Whither,  whither  next  bend  ye 

so  The  nature  of  this  wound  shows  that  he  was  flying  with  the  rest, 
as  Anthon  observes.  C£  Ovid.  Met.  viii.  364,  "succiao  liquerunt  pop- 
lite  nervi."  B. 

51  i.  e.  to  poison.  So  "  ungere"  is  used  in  Hor.  Od.  ii.  1.  Lucan  ill 
266.  B. 


324  ^LNEID.  B.  ix.  782—819. 

your  flight?  what  other  walls,  what  other  fortifications  have 
you  now  beyond  this  ?  Shall  one  man,  O  citizens,  by  ramparts 
every  way  hemmed  in,  spread  such  vast  havoc  through  the 
city  with  impunity  ?  shall  he  dispatch  to  Pluto  so  many  of 
the  most  illustrious  of  our  youths  ?  Can  neither  shame  nor 
pity  toward  your  unhappy  country,  your  ancient  gods,  and 
great  ./Eneas,  touch  your  recreant  breasts?  Fired  by  these 
words  they  are  fortified  [with  courage],  and  in  a  close  body 
stand  firm.  Turnus  begins  by  slow  degrees  to  retreat  from  the 
fight,  and  make  toward  the  river,  and  that  part  [of  the  wall] 
which  is  bounded  by  the  stream.  So  much  the  -more  keenly 
the  Trojans  press  upon  him  with  loud  acclaim,  and  form  a 
clustering  band :  as  with  annoying  darts  a  troop  [of  hunters] 
press  on  after  a  fierce  lion ;  while  the  appalled  savage,  surly, 
lowering  stern,  flinches  back ;  nor  rage,  nor  courage,  sufier  him 
to  fly ;  nor  can  he,  for  darts  and  men  (though  fain  indeed  he 
would),  make  head  against  them  ;  just  so  Turnus  hovering  in 
suspense  backward  withdraws  his  lingering  steps ;  and  his 
soul  with  rage  tumultuous  boils.  Even  then  twice  had  he  at- 
tacked the  enemy  in  the  center;  twice  along  the  walls  he 
chased  the  troops  in  confusion  routed.  But  [issuing]  from  the 
camp  in  haste,  the  whole  host  against  him  alone  combine ; 
nor  dares  Saturnian  Juno  supply  him  with  strength  against 
them,  for  Jupiter  sent  down  from  heaven  aerial  Iris,  bearing  no 
mild  mandates  to  his  sister,  unless  Turnus  quit  the  lofty  walls 
of  the  Trojans.  Therefore,  neither  with  his  shield  nor  arm  is 
the  youth  able  to  withstand  so  great  a  shock :  he  is  so  over- 
whelmed on  all  hands  with  showers  of  darts.  With  incessant 
clang  the  helmet  round  his  hollow  temples  rings,  and  the  solid 
arms  of  brass  are  riven  with  battering  stones ;  from  his  head 
the  plumes  are  struck  off;  nor  is  his  buckler's  boss  sufficient 
to  support  the  blows :  The  Trojans,  and  thundering  Mnestheus 
himself  at  their  head,  with  spears  redouble  thrust  on  thrust. 
Then  all  over  his  body  the  sweat  comes  trickling  down,  and 
pours  a  black  clammy  tide;  nor  has  he  power  to  breathe; 
languid,  panting  heave  his  weary  limbs.  Then  at  length  in  all 
his  arms  with  a  bound  he  flung  himself  headlong  into  the 
river.  He,  expanding  his  yellow  bosom,  received  him  at  com- 
ing up,  and  upbore  him  on  his  peaceful  streams;  and,  having 
washed  away  his  stains  of  blood,  returned  him  joyous  to  his 
friends. 


B.  x.  1—28.  ^ENEID.  325 


BOOK  X. 

In  the  Tenth  Book,  Jupiter  calls  a  council  of  the  gods,  and  attempts  in 
vain  a  reconciliation  between  Juno  and  Venus,  who  favor  the  opposite 
parties.  The  fight  is  renewed.  ^Eneas  returns  and  joins  battle  with  the 
Latins,  when  Pallas  is  killed  bjr  Turnus.  who  is  saved  from  the  avenging 
hand  of  uEneas  by  the  interposition  of  Juno. 
.<.-... 

MEANWHILE  the  palace  of  all-powerful  heaven  is  opened, 
and  the  parent  of  the  gods,  the'  sovereign  of  men,  summons  a 
council  into  the  starry  mansion,  whence,  from  aloft,  he  views 
all  lands,  the  Trojan  camp,  and  Latin  nations.  In  the  abode 
with  its  two-valved  gates,  they  take  their  seats ;  Jove  himself 
begins :  Ye  high  celestials,  why  is  your  purpose  backward 
turned ;  and  why  so  fiercely  do  ye  with  hostile  minds  con- 
tend ?  It  was  my  will  that  with  the  Trojans  Italy  should  not 
engage  in  war :  what  means  this  dissension  against  my  prohi- 
bition ?  what  jealousy  hath  prompted  these  or  those  to  pursue 
hostilities,  and  rouse  the  sword  ?  The  just  time  for  fight  will 
come  (anticipate  it  not),  when  hereafter  fierce  Carthage  shall 
on  Roman  towers  pour  down  mighty  ruin,  and  the  opened 
Alps :  then  shall  leave  be  given  you  to  fight  with  mutual 
animosities,  then  to  plunder.1  At  present  forbear,  and  cheer- 
fully ratify  the  destined  league.  Thus  Jupiter  briefly  said ; 
but  bright  Venus  on  the  other  hand  not  briefly  replies :  O 
Sire,  O  eternal  powers  of  gods  and  men  !  (for  what  other  sub- 
sists whom  now  we  can  implore  ?)  seest  thou  how  the  Rutu- 
lians  insult,  and  how  Turnus  on  his  steed  conspicuous  is  hur- 
ried through  the  ranks,  and  swollen  with  successful  war  pours 
along  ?  now  not  even  their  fenced  bulwarks  protect  the  Tro- 
jans ;  even  within  the  gates,  and  on  the  very  turrets  of  the 
walls,  they  join  battle,  and  the  trenches  are  deluged  with  blood. 
^Eneas  unwittingly  is  absent.  Will  you  never  suffer  them 
from  blockade  to  be  relieved  ?  Once  more  our  enemies,  another 
army  too,  are  hovering  over  the  walls  of  Troy  just  rising  anew 
into  life ;  and  once  more  Tydides  from  ^Etolian  Arpi*  rises 

1  f.  e.  to  cany  on  war  after  the  early  fashion.     Servius  well  refers  this 
to  the  "clarigatio,"  or  public  challenge  offered  by  the  Feciales  (see  Diet 
Antiq.),  observing  that  "Caedere"  was  equivalent  to  "res  rapere,"  "sa- 
tisfacere"  to  "  res  reddere."    B. 

2  Arpi,  called  also  Argyripa,  a  city  of  Apulia  in  Italy,  built  by  Dio- 
mede  after  the  Trojan  war. 


326  uENEID.  B.  X.  29—63. 

against  the  Trojans.  I  truly  believe  new  wounds  are  reserved 
for  me ;'  and  I,  your  own  progeny,  await  a  contest  with  a 
mortal.  If  without  thy  permission,  and  in  defiance  of  thy 
will,  the  Trojans  have  come  to  Italy,  let  them  atone  for  their 
offense  ;  and  do  not  support  them  with  thy  aid  :  but  if  [they 
came]  in  pursuance  of  so  many  responses,  which  powers  celes- 
tial and  infernal  both  delivered,  why  now  has  any  one  the 
power  to  pervert  thy  commands,  or  to  frame  new  schemes  of 
fate  ?  What  need  have  I  to  recall  to  mind  the  firing  of  their 
fleet  on  the  Sicilian  shore  ?  or'why  the  king  of  storms  and  his 
furious  winds  raised  from  JEolia,  or  Iris  sent  down  from  the 
clouds  ?  Now,  even  to  the  powers  of  hell  (that  quarter 
of  the  universe  [alone]  unsolicited  remained)  she  has  re- 
course ;  and  Alecto,  suddenly  let  loose  upon  the  upper  world, 
infuriate  hath  roamed  through  the  midst  of  these  Italian 
cities.  For  empire  I  am  no  further  solicitous  ;  these  hopes  we 
entertained  while  fortune  was  ours ;  let  those  prevail  whom 
thou  wilt  rather  have  prevail.  If  there  be  no  spot  on  earth 
which  thy  rigid  spouse  will  vouchsafe  to  the  Trojans,  thee 
I  conjure,  O  father,  by  the  smoking  ruins  of  demolished  Troy, 
permit  me  to  dismiss  Ascanius  safe  from  arms ;  permit  my 
grandchild  to  survive.  For  ^Eneas,  truly  let  him  on  seas 
unknown  be  tossed,  and  pursue  whatever  course  fortune  shall 
giv-e  him :  let  me  but  have  power  to  protect  the  boy,  and 
rescue  him  from  the  horrid  fray.  Amathus  is  mine :  lofty 
Paphos,  and  Cythera,  and  the  mansion  of  Idalia,  are  mine : 
here,  laying  arms  aside,  let  him  inglorious  spend  his  days. 
Command  Carthage  to  rule  Ausonia  with  powerful  sway; 
from  him  no  opposition  shall  arise  to  the  Tyrian  cities.  What 
hath  it  availed  ./Eneas  to  escape  the  ravages  of  war,  and  to 
have  fled  through  the  midst  of  Grecian  flames ;  and  to  have 
drained  to  the  dregs  so  many  dangers  both  by  sea  and  land 
immense,  while  the  Trojans  are  in  quest  of  Latium,  and  of 
another  Pergamus  again  tottering  to  its  fall  ?  Would  it  not 
have  been  better  for  them  to  settle  on  the  last  ashes  of  their 
country,  and  the  soil  where  Troy  once  was  ?  Give  back,  I 
pray,  to  the  hapless  ones  their  Xanthus  and  Simois :  and, 
further,  permit  the  Trojans  to  struggle  once  more  with  the 
disasters  of  Troy.  Then  imperial  Juno,  stung  with  fierce  rage, 
thus  spoke :  Why  do  you  compel  me  to  break  my  profound 

3  Venus  had  been  previously  wounded  by  Diomede.     B. 


B.X.  64— 93.  ,     jENEED.  327 

silence,  and  by  words  proclaim  my  smothered  grief  ?  Did  any 
of  the  gods  or  human  race  constrain  ^Eneas  to  pursue  war,  and 
present  himself  as  a  foe  to  king  Latinus  ?*  He  set  out  for  Italy, 
by  the  authority  of  the  Fates ;  I  grant  it ;  impelled  by  Cas- 
sandra's mad  predictions.  Did  we  advise  him  to  abandon  his 
camp,  or  to  commit  his  life  to  the  winds  ?  or  to  trust  a  boy 
with  the  chief  administration  of  the  war,  or  with  the  city ; 
or  [to  solicit]  the  protection  of  the  Tuscan  monarch,  and 
embroil  nations  that  were  at  peace  ?  What  god,  or  what  rigid 
power  of  mine,  urged  him  to  these  guileful  measures  ?  Where 
was  Juno  on  this  occasion,  or  Iris,  who,  [you  tell  us,]  has 
been  dispatched  from  above  ?  A  high  indignity,  [no  doubt,] 
it  is,  that  the  Latins  should  surround  your  infant  Troy  with 
flames,  and  that  Turnus  should  settle  in  his  native  land ;  he 
whose  grandsire  is  Pilumnus,1  whose  mother  is  the  goddess 
Venilia.6  What  is  it  then  for  the  Trojans  to  assault  the 
Latins  with  the  gloomy  brand,  or  to  inthrall  kingdoms  not 
their  own,  and  bear  away  the  plunder  ?  What  is  it  for  them  to 
suborn  iathers-in-law,  and  carry  off  betrothed  spouses  from 
the  bosoms  [of  their  plighted  lords]  ?  What  is  it  for  them  to 
sue  for  peace  like  suppliants,  while  on  their  ships  they  dis- 
played the  ensigns  of  war  ?  You  can  privately  convey  ^Eneas 
from  the  hands  of  the  Greeks,  and  in  his  stead  spread  before 
their  eyes  a  misty  cloud  and  empty  air :  you  too  can  trans- 
form his  ships  into  so  many  nymphs  ;  for  us  to  have  aided  the 
Rutulians  against  him  ever  so  little  is  a  heinous  crime.  ./Eneas, 
[you  say,]  in  ignorance  is  absent :  and  absent  let  him  remain 
in  ignorance.  Paphos  is  yours,  Idalium  also,  and  lofty  Cythera  ; 
why  then  do  you  solicit  a  city  big  with  war,  and 'hearts  a 
rough  mold  ?  Do  we  attempt  to  overturn  from  its  foundation 
thy  frail  Phrygian  state  ?  is  it  we  ?  or  rather  he  who  to  the 
Greeks  exposed  the  wretched  Trojans  ?  Who'  was  the  cause 
that  Europe  and  Asia  rose  together  in  arms,  and  by  a  perfidi- 
ous crime  violated  their  league  ?  Was  it  under  my  conduct  that 
the  Trojan  adulterer  stormed  Sparta  ?  or  did  I  supply  him 
with  arms,  or  foment  the  war  by  lust  ?  Then  it  became  you  to 

4  Pilumnus,  a  deity  worshiped  at  Rome,  from  whom  Turnus  boasted 
of  being  lineally  descended. 

s  Venilia,  a  nymph,  sister  to  Amata,  and  mother  of  Turnus  by  Daunus. 

6  "Quae"  must  not  be  joined  with  "  causa,"  but  taken  independently, 
as  is  evident  from  the  imitation  of  Propert.  ii.  2,  45,  "  Olim  mirabar,  quse 
tanti  ad  Pergama  belli  Europae  atque  Asiae  causa  puella  fuit."  B. 


328  jENEID.  B.  X.  94—130. 

be  in  fear  for  your  minions ;  now  too  late  you  rise  with  un- 
just complaints,  and  throw  out  reproaches  of  no  avail.  Thus 
Juno  pleaded  her  cause ;  and  all  the  celestials  murmured  out 
various  assent ;  as  when  the  rising  gales,  pent  in  the  woods, 
begin  to  mutter,  and  roll  along  soft  whispers,  that  to  mariners 
betoken  approaching  winds.  ' 

Then  the  almighty  Sire,  whose  is  the  chief  command  of  the 
universe,  begins.  While  he  speaks,  the  sublime  mansion  of 
the  gods  is  hushed,  and  earth  from  its  foundation  trembles ; 
the  lofty  sky  is  silent;  then  the  zephyrs  are  still ;  the  sea  levels 
its  peaceful  surface.  Listen,  therefore,  and  fix  in  your  minds 
these  my  words  :  since  it  is  not  permitted  that  with  the  Tro- 
jans the  Ausonians  be  joined  in  league,  and  your  dissensions 
receive  no  end ;  whatever  fortune  to-day  is  for  each,  whatever 
hope  each  cuts  out  for  himself,  be  he  Trojan  or  Rutulian,  I 
will  regard  them  both  without  distinction  ;  whether  the  camp 
[of  the  Trojans]  be  now  besieged  by  the  Latins,  through  the 
decrees  of  fate,  or  in  consequence  of  Troy's  fatal  error,  and 
inauspicious  presages.7  Nor  do  I  exempt  the  Rutulians.  To 
each  his  own  enterprise  shall  procure  disaster  or  success. 
Sovereign  Jove  shall  be  to  all  the  same.  The  Fates  shall  take 
their  course.  Bowing  his  head,  he  confirmed  the  promise  by 
the  streams  of  his  Stygian  brother,  by  the  banks  that  roll 
with  torrents  of  pitch  and  black  whirlpools,  and  by  his  nod 
made  heaven's  whole  frame  to  tremble.  Here  the  consultation 
ended :  then  Jupiter  rises  from  his  golden  throne,  whom  in 
their  center  the  celestial  powers  conduct  to  his  palace. 

Meanwhile  the  Rutulians  at  all  the  gates  are  keenly  em- 
ployed in  slaughtering  the  troops,  and  encompassing  the  walls 
with  flames.  On  the  other  hand,  the  host  of  the  Trojans 
within  their  ramparts  are  closely  shut  up ;  nor  have  they  any 
hope  of  escape.  Forlorn  they  stand  on  the  lofty  turrets  to  no 
purpose,  and  with  thin  bands  beset  the  walls.  Asius,  the  son 
of  Imbracus,  and  Thymoetes,  the  son  of  Hicetaon,  the  two 
Assaracci,  and  aged  Tybris,  with  Castor,  lead  the  van  :  those 
both  the  brothers  of  Sarpedon  and  Clarus,  and  Haemon,  from 
lofty  Lycia,  accompany.  Acmon  of  Lyrnessus,  inferior 
neither  to  his  father  Clytius,  nor  to  his  brother  Mnestheus, 

7  i.  e.  "  or  through  their  wrongly  interpreting  the  uncertain  presages 
which  had  been  sent  as  a  warning."  Servius  refers  the  remark  to 
"  Cassandrae  impulaus  furiis"  in  vs.  68.  B. 


B.x.131— 163.  ^ENEID.  329 

straining  with  his  whole  body,  bears  a  huge  rock,  no  incon- 
siderable portion  of  a  mountain.  Some  with  darts,  some 
with  rocks,  strive  to  defend  [the  town] ;  others  hurl  fire- 
brands, and  fit  their  arrows  to  the  string.  Lo,  in  the  midst, 
Venus'  most  worthy  care,  the  young  prince  of  Troy,  with  his 
comely  head  uncovered,  sparkles  like  the  diamond  which 
divides  the  yellow  gold,  an  ornament  either  for  the  neck  or 
for  the  head  :  or  as  shines  the  ivory  by  art  enchased  by  box- 
wood, or  Orician  ebony  ;*  whose  spreading  locks  his  milk- 
white  neck  receives,  and  a  circle  of  ductile  gold  upbinds. 
Thee  too,  O  Ismarus,  the  magnanimous  nations  saw  aiming 
wounds,  and  arming  thy  shafts  with  poison ;  [Ismarus,]  de- 
scended from  a  noble  Lydian  family,  where  the  swains  till, 
and  Pactolus9  waters  with  his  golden  streams,  rich  fertile 
lands.  Mnestheus  too  lent  his  aid,  whom  his  former  glory  of 
having  beaten  Turnus  from  the  bastion  greatly  exalts :  and 
Capys :  from  him  the  name  of  the  Campanian10  city  is 
derived.  They  were  mutually  engaged  in  the  combats  of 
rugged  war  :  ^Eneas  at  midnight  was  plowing  the  waves. 
For  soon  as  having  left  Evander,  entering  the  Tuscan  camp, 
he  repairs  to  the  king,  and  lays  before  him  his  name  and 
nation ;  informs  him  what  is  his  demand,  what  proposals  he 
brings ;  what  troops  Mezentius  is  procuring  for  himself ;  the 
outrageous  temper  of  Turnus ;  reminds  him  how  little  confi- 
dence there  is  in  human  affairs,  and  intermixes  prayers :  no 
delay  ensues.  Tarchon  joins  his  forces,  and .  strikes  a  league. 
Then  to  the  Lydian  nation,  disengaged  from  the  restraint  of  fate, 
enter  the  fleet,  by  order  of  the  gods  put  under  the  conduct  of 
a  foreign  leader.  ^Eneas'  galley  leads  the  way,  under  whose 
beak  are  Phrygian  lions  yoked  :  Ida  towers  above,  most  grate- 
ful to  the  Trojan  exiles.  Here  great  ^Eneas  sits,  and  revolves 
with  himself  the  various  events  of  war ;  and  Pallas  attached 
to  his  left  side,  now  questions  him  of  the  stars,  their  path  amid 
the  darksome  night ;  now  of  the  sufferings  he  sustained  both 
by  land  and  sea. 

8  Orician  ebony,  from  Oricum,  a  town  of  Epirus  in  Greece,  on  the 
Adriatic. 

9  Pactolus.  a  river  of  Lydia  in  Asia  Minor,  issuing  from  Mount  Tmo- 
lus,  and  falling  into  the  Hermus  below  Sardes.     The  sands  of  the  Pac- 
tolus, like  those  of  the  Hermus,  were  mingled  with  gold. 

10  i.  e.  Capua.     B. 


330  -iENEID.  B.  X  164—159. 

Now  open  Helicon,  ye  goddesses,  and  me  inspire  to  sing ; 
what  troops  meanwhile  accompany  j^Eneas  from  the  Tuscan 
coasts,  man  his  ships,  and  are  borne  on  the  main. 

First  Massicus  in  the  brazen-beaked  Tigris  plows  the 
waves,  under  whom  is  a  band  of  a  thousand  youths,  who  left 
the  walls  of  Clausium,11  and  who  the  city  Cosse  ;12  whose 
weapons  are  arrows  and  light  quivers  on  their  shoulders,  and 
the  deadly  bow.  With  him  stern  Abas  goes :  his  whole 
squadron  with  burnished  arms,  and  his  stern  with  a  gilded 
Apollo  shone.  To  him  Populonia,  his  mother-city,  had  given 
six  hundred  youths  expert  in  arms ;  but  Ilva,13  an  island  en- 
nobled by  inexhaustible  mines  of  steel,  three  hundred.  The 
third,  Asylas,  the  famed  interpreter  of  gods  and  men,  to  whom 
the  fibers  of  victims,  to  whom  the  stars  of  heaven,  are  in  sub- 
jection, and  the  languages  of  birds,  and  the  flashes  of  presag- 
ing thunder,  pours  along  his  thousand  close-ranged  in  battle- 
array,  and  with  erect  spears.  These  Pisa,14  a  Tuscan  city  in 
its  territory,  Alphean  .  in  origin,  to  him  put  in  subjection. 
Astur  follows,  a  most  comely  hero,  Astur  confiding  in  his 
steed  and  parti-colored  arms.  Those  who  in  Ca3re,16  who  in 
the  plains  of  Minio18  dwell,  and  ancient  Pyrgi,  and  unwhole- 
some Graviscae,  join  [with  him]  three  hundred  (all  have  one 
resolution  to  follow).  Thee,  Cycnus,17  chief  of  the  Lugurians, 
most  valorous  in  war,  I  can  not  pass  over ;  nor  thee,  Cupavo, 
by  few  troops  accompanied,  on  whose  crest  a  swan's  plumes 
arise  (your  crime  was  love),  the  ensign  of  your  father's  trans- 

11  Clausium,  the  ancient  Clusium,  a  town  of  Etraria,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Clanis,  where  Porsenna  was  buried. 

'2  Cosse  and  Populonia,  maritime  towns  of  Etruria. 

13  Ilva  (Elba),  an  island  of  the  Tyrrhene  Sea,  between  Italy  and  Cor- 
sica; it  was  famous  for  its  iron  mines.     DAVIDSON.     Compare  Butil. 
Itin.  i.  351,  "  Chalybum  memorabilia  Ilva  metallis."    B. 

14  Pisa,  a  town  of  Etruria,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arnus,  built  by  a  col- 
ony from  Pisa  in  Elis. 

15  Csere,  a  city  of  Etruria,  of  which  Mezentius  was  king  when  ./Eneas 
came  to  Italy. 

16  Minio  (Mignone),  a  river  of  Etruria,  falling  into  the  Tyrrhene  Sea. 
Pyrgi  and  Grayiscae,  maritime  towns  of  Etruria. 

17  Cycnus,  a  son  of  Sthenelus,  king  of  Liguria,  who  was  deeply  af- 
fected at  the  death  of  his  friend  Phaeton,  and  was  metamorphosed  into  a 
swan.     Phaeton,  the  son  of  Phoebus  and  Clymene,  according  to  the  poets, 
was  intrusted  by  his  father  with  the  chariot  of  the  sun  for  one  day, 
when,  by  his  unskillful  driving,  he  nearly  set  the  world  on  fire,  upon  which 
Jupiter  struck  him  with  a  thunderbolt,  and  he  fell  into  the  river  Po. 


B.  x.  190—220.  jENEID.  331 

formation.18  For  they  tell  us  that  Cycnus,  while  for  grief  of 
his  beloved  Phaeton  he  sings  among  the  poplar  boughs,  his 
sisters'  shade,  and  with  music  soothes  his  disconsolate  love, 
[by  transformation  clothed]  with  downy  plumes,  brought  upon 
himself18  hoary  age,  leaving  the  earth,  and  soaring  to  the  stars 
with  his  song.  The  son,  in  the  fleet  accompanying  his  coeval 
troops,  with  ours  impels  the  bulky  Centaur  :  the  monster  stands 
on  the  flood,  and  reared  high  threatens  the  waves  with  an 
enormous  rock,  and  with  his  long  keel  plows  the  deep  seas. 
The  famed  Ocnusso  too  leads  on  a  squadron  from  his  native 
coasts,  son  of  the  prophetic  Manto  and  the  Tuscan  river 
[Tiber],  who  gave  thee  walls,  O  Mantua,  and  his  mother's 
name;  Mantua  rich  in  ancestors:"  but  they  are  not  all  of 
one  lineage.  Three  clans  to  her  belong  :  under  each  clan  are 
four  communities ;  of  those  communities  she  herself  is  the 
capital  city.  The  strength  [of  her  inhabitants  are]  of  Tuscan 
blood.  Hence  too  Mezentius  arms  five  hundred  against  him- 
self, whom  Mincius,  sprung  from  the  parent-lake  Benacus, 
crowned  with  azure  reed,  conveyed  to  the  sea  in  hostile  ships 
of  pine.  The  stern  Aulestes  advances,  and,  rising  [to  the 
stroke],  lashes  the  waves  with  a  hundred  oars;  the  surface 
overturned,  the  billows  foam.  The  enormous  Triton  bears 
him  with  his  shell-trumpet  affrighting  the  azure  floods  :  whose 
hairy  front,  as  he  swims  along,  displays  a  human  form  down 
to  the  waist,  his  belly  terminates  in  a  pristis,  under  his  half- 
savage  breast  the  foamy  surges  murmur.  So  many  chosen 
chiefs  in  thirty  vessels  went  to  the  aid  of  Troy,  and  plowed 
with  prows  of  brass  the  briny  plains. 

And  now  day  had  withdrawn  from  the  heavens,  and  auspi- 
cious Phoebe  in  her  night- wandering  car  was  shaking  the 
mid-region  of  the  sky.  JEneas  (for  anxiety  gives  not  sleep 
to  his  limbs)  himself,  seated  at  the  helm,  both  steers  and  man- 
ages the  sails.  And  lo !  in  his  mid-course  there  came  up  to 
him  a  choir  of  those  who  were  his  attendants  before,  nymphs 

13  Put  a  comma  after  "  pennse,"  taking  the  words  "  crimen  amor  ves- 
trum"  in  a  parenthesis.  See  "Wagner.  B. 

19  I  have  followed  Heyne.     The  whiteness  of  his  plumage  made  him 
appear  like  an  aged  person.     B.  • 

20  Ocnus,  the  son  of  Tiber  and  Manto,  who  assisted  ^Eneas  against 
Turnus.     He  built  a  town  which  he  called  Mantua,  after  his  mother's 
name. 

2'  So  Statius  Theb.  i.  391,  "  Adrastus  dives  avis."    B. 


332  J3NEID.  B.  x  221—253. 

whom  propitious  Cybele  had  appointed  to  enjoy  divinity  in 
the  sea,  and  from  ships  to  become  nymphs  :  with  equal  motion 
they  swam  along,1*  and  cut  the  waves  ;  as  numerous  as  the 
brazen-beaked  vessels  which  had  before  been  drawn  up  on 
the  shore.  Their  king  at  a  distance  they  descry,  and  in 
circling  dances  him  surround  :  of  whom  the  most  accomplished 
speaker,  Cymodocea,  following,  with  her  right  hand  grasps 
the  stern,  while  with  her  back  she  rises  [above  the  flood],  and 
with  her  left  hand  gently  rows  her  way  along  the  silent  waves. 
Then  him  unknowing  she  thus  addresses:  Wakest  thou, 
^Eneas,  offspring  of  the  gods  ?  awake  and  give  your  ship  full 
sails.  We  are  the  pines  of  Ida,  from  that  mountain's  sacred 
top  [once]  thy  fleet,  now  nymphs  of  the  sea.  When  the  per- 
fidious Rutulian  pressed  us  with  fire  and  sword  till  we  were 
on  the  brink  of  ruin,  constrained  we  burst  thy  cables,  and  go 
in  quest  of  thee  through  the  ocean.  The  mother  [of  the 
gods]  in  pity  -new-fashioned  in  form,  and  permitted  us  to  be- 
come goddesses,  and  to  pass  our  life  under  the  waves.  But 
[know  that]  the  boy  Ascanius  is  blocked  up  in  the  wall  and 
trenches,  amid  darts,  and  amid  the  Latins  arrayed  in  all 
the  terrors  of  Mars.  Now  the  Arcadian  horse,  united  with 
the  valiant  Tuscans,  have  reached  the  place  appointed  :  It  is 
the  determined  resolution  of  Turnus  to  intercept  their  march 
with  his  troops,  that  they  may  not  join  the  camp.  Come, 
arise,  and  at  the  approach  of  morn  first  command  thy  troops 
to  arms  ;  and  take  thy  shield,  which,  of  unconquerable  might, 
the  god  of  fire  gave  to  thee,  and  encircled  its  borders  with 
gold.  To-morrow's  sun  (if  you  deem  not  my  words  vain) 
shall  behold  vast  heaps  of  Rutulian  slaughter.  She  said  ;  and 
parting,  with  her  right  hand  shoved  forward  the  lofty  stern, 
not  unskillful  in  the  art  :  the  vessel  flies  along  the  waves 
swifter  than  the  javelin,  and  the  arrow  that  keeps  pace  with 
the  winds.  The  rest  then  speed  their  course.  The  Trojan 
son  of  Anchises,  himself  not  knowing  [the  cause],  is  lost  in 
wonder,  yet  by  the  omen  raises  the  spirits  of  his  men.  Then 
surveying  the  high  vault  of  heaven,  he  briefly  prays  :  Boun- 
teous parent  of  the  gods,  Ida?an  Cybele,  whose  dear  delight  is 
Dindymus,  and  turret-bearing  cities,  and  lions  yoked  in  pairs 


22  So  Oppian  Hal.  i.  565,  laavro  Buaaov  oiarov.  v.  477, 
oiarof  —  icpanrva  6euv.     "  Modo"  refers  to  the  keeping  the  ship  properly 
poised,  while  the  impulse  was  given,  as  is  remarked  by  Anthon.     B. 


B.  X  254—289.  uENEID.  333 

Under  thy  reins,  be  thou  now  my  leader  in  the  fight ;  do  thou, 
O  goddess,  in  due  form  render  the  omen  propitious,  and  with 
thy  propitious  influence  aid  the  Trojans. 

This  only  he  said,  and  meanwhile  the  day  revolved,  was 
now  with  perfect  light  advanced,  and  had  chased  away  the 
night.  First  he  enjoins  his  troops  to  observe  the  signal,  and 
to  dispose  their  minds  for  arms,  and  prepare  themselves  for 
the  combat.  And  now  he  has  the  Trojans  and  his  camp  in 
view,  standing  on  his  lofty  deck.  Then  next  on  his  left  arm 
he  raised  aloft  his  flaming  buckler.  The  Trojans  from  their 
walls  raise  acclamations  to  the  stars.  Additional  hope  rouses 
up  their  fury.  Darts  from  their  hands  they  hurl :  as  under 
the  gloomy  clouds  Strymonian  cranes  give  the  signal,  and 
swim  along  the  skies  with  din,  and  from  the  south  winds  with 
joyous  clamor  fly.  But  to  the -Rutulian  prince  and  Ausonian 
leaders  this  seemed  amazing ;  till  looking  back  they  observed 
the  fleet  turned  toward  the  shore,  and  the  whole  channel  of 
the  river  gliding  along  with  vessels.  The  tufted  helmet  on 
his  head  blazes,  and  from  the  top  of  his  crest  a  flame  is  poured 
forth,  and  the  golden  boss  of  his  buckler  darts  copious  fires ; 
just  as  when  in  a  clear  night  the  sanguine  comets  baleful 
glare  ;  or,  as  Sirius,  that  blazing  star,  when  he  brings  droughts 
and  diseases  on  sickly  mortals,  rises  and  saddens  the  sky  with 
inauspicious  light.  Yet  daring  Turnus  dropped  not  his  bold 
purpose  to  preoccupy  the  shore,  and,  as  they  approached,  .beat 
them  from  the  land.  Then  eagerly  addressing  his  men,  he 
raises  their  courage,  and  briskly  chides  their  fears :"  That 
which  you  ardently  wished  is  come,  by  dint  of  valor  to  crush 
[the  foe];  Mars,  himself,  brave  men,  is  in  your  power.24  Now 
each  man  be  mindful  of  his  wife  and  home ;  now  let  him  re- 
flect on  the  mighty  deeds,  the  glory  of  his  ancestors.  Let  us 
of  ourselves  make  head  against  them  by  the  stream,  while  they 
are  in  disorder,  and  their  first  steps  at  landing  stagger.  Fortune 
assists  the  daring.  He  said,  and  ponders  within  himself  whom 
to  lead  against  [the  enemy],  or  to  whom  he  may  instrust  the 
siege  of  the  town. 

Meanwhile  ^Eneas  by  bridges  lands  his  troops  from  their 
lofty  ships.  Many  watched  the  retreat  of  the  ebbing  sea,  and 

23  There  seems  little  doubt  that  this  line  is  a  spurious  introduction 
from  JEn.  ix.  12T.  B. 


i.  e.  you  cafc  bring  them  to  an  open  fight.     B. 


334  JENEED.  B.  x.  289—316. 

with  a  spring  committed  themselves  to  the  shallows ;  others 
row  themselves  ashore.  Tarchon  having  surveyed  the  strand 
where  there  is  no  surf,"  and  where  no  dashing  wave  remur- 
murs,  but  the  sea  unbroken  glides  along  with"  the  swelling 
tide,  suddenly  turns  hither  his  prow,  and  addresses  his  asso- 
ciates :  Now,  my  select  band,  ply  the  sturdy  oars ;  push 
briskly,  urge  on  your  vessels ;  cleave  with  your  beaks  this 
.  hpstile  soil,  and  let  the  keel  plow  a  way  for  itself.  Nor 
shall  I  refuse  to  dash  my  ship  in  pieces  in  such  a  port,  if  we 
but  once  seize  the  land.  Which  as  soon  as  Tarchon  thus  had 
said,  his  mates  rose  to  their  oars  at  once.  And  full  on  the  Latin 
coast  their  foaming  galleys  bear,  till  the  beaks  rest  on  the  dry 
dock,  and  all  the  keels  without  harm  are  moved :  but  not  so 
thy  vessel,  Tarchon ;  for  while  against  the  shallops  dashed 
she  hangs  on  the  fatal  ridge,  long  balanced  in  suspense,  and 
tires  the  waves,  she  is  staved,  and  exposes  the  crew  in  the 
midst  of  the  waves ;  whom  fragments  of  oars  and  floating 
benches  embarrass,  while  the  tide  retreating  draws  back  their 
steps. 

Then  no  supine  delay  withholds  Turnus ;  but  impetuous  he 
hurries  on  his  whole  host  against  the  Trojans,  and  on  the 
shore  ranges  them  full  opposite.  They  sound  the  alarm. 
^Eneas  first  attacked  the  rustic  troops,  an  omen26  of  the  fight ; 
and  routed  the  Latins,  having  slain  Theron,  their  giant  chief, 
who  boldly  makes  up  to  ^Eneas  :  through  the  brazen  texture 
[of  his  buckler],  and  through  .  his  tunic  rough"  with  gold,  he 
with  the  sword  drains28  his  transfixed  side.  Next  he  smites 
Lycas,  who  was  cut  out  of  his  mother  when  dead,  and  to  thee, 
O  Phoebus,  devoted,  because  in  infancy  he  was  permitted  to 
escape  the  perilous  chances  of  steel."  Not  far  onward  he 

23  But  others  read  "  aperat"  for  "  spirant."    B. 

26  Servius    observes :    "  omen,  quia,   sicut   nunc,  sic   ubique   vincet 
^Eneas."    B. 

27  Or  "  dull  to  the  view."     ANTHOX.     But  I  prefer  the  explanation 
of  Gellius  ii   6,  "  significat  copiam  densitatemque  auri  in  summarum 
speciem  intexti."     B. 

23  i.  e.  "  drinks  the  blood  from  his  side."  But  it  may  also  be  taken 
as  equivalent  to  "  transfodit."  Servius  observes :  "  cum  enim  a  latere 
quis  aliquem  adortus  gladio  occidit,  hausit  ittum  dicunt."  So  Ovid  Met. 
v.  126,  "Herenti  latus  haurit  Abas."  Sijius  i.  392,  "Et  rapto  nudum 
clypeo  latus  haurit  Hiberi."  B. 

29  Such  children  were  consecrated  to  Apollo.     See  Servius.     B. 


B.  x.  317—353.  ^ENEID.  33$ 

overthrows  in  death  hardy  Cisseus,  and  gigantic  Gyas,  a« 
they  were  felling  the  troops  with  clubs.  Neither  the  weap- 
ons of  Hercules,  nor  their  strength  of  arm,  aught  availed 
them ;  tor  did  they  profit  by  having  Melampus  for  their 
father,  the  companion  of  Alcides,  as  long  as  earth-  supplied 
him  with  toilsome  labors.  Lo,  at  Pharus  hurling  a  javelin, 
he  fixes  it  full  in  his  bawling  mouth,  while  he  vaunts  das- 
tardly  speeches.  Thou,  too,  Cydon  (while  thou  hapless  art 
pursuing  Clytius,  thy  new  charmer,  shading  his  cheeks  with 
the  first  yellow  down),  overthrown  by  the  Trifjafr  arm,  rre/ 
gardless  of  those  loves  which  thou  ever  didst'  .entertain  fol 
boys,  hadst  lain  an  object  of  compassion,  had  not--  a  bend  ef 
brothers,  the  progeny  of  Phorcus,  in  close  array  made  head" 
against  him  :  seven  in  number,  and  seven  darts  they  fling ; 
part  from  his  helm  and  shield  ineffectual  rebound ;  part  just 
grazing  on  his  skin  indulgent  Venus  turned  aside.  JEneas 
thus  bespeaks  his  trusty  Achates  :  Supply  me  with  darts  (not 
one  against  the  Rutulians  shall  my  right  hand  hurl  in  vain), 
[of  those]  which  on  the  Trojan  plains  once  stood  in  the  bodies 
of  the  Greeks.30  Then  he  grasps  at  once  and  tosses  a  mighty 
spear ;  it  flying  pierces  through  the  brazen  plates  of  Mseon?s 
shield,  and  his  cuirass  together  with  his  breast  transfixes. 
To  him  comes  up  his  brother  Alcanor,  and  with  his  right 
hand  sustains  his  falling  brother ;  piercing  whose  arms  the 
darted  spear  flies  straightly  on,  and  drenched  in  blood,  holds  on 
its  course  ;  and  from  the  shoulder  by  the  nerves  the  arm  hung 
lifeless.  Then  Numitor,  from  his  brother's  body  having 
snatched  a  javelin,  aims  it  at  ^Eneas :  but  to  him  it  is  not 
.permitted  in  his  turn  to  transfix  [the  hero],  and  it  grazed  on 
the  thigh  of  great  Achates.  Here  Clausus  of  Cures,  confiding 
in  his  youthful  person,  comes  up,  and  wounds  Dryops  at  a 
distance  with  a  rigid  spear,  under  his  chin  with  force  driven 
home ;  and,  transfixing  his  throat  while  the  word  is  in  his 
mouth,  at  once  of  speech  and  life  bereaves  him :  but  he  with 
his  front  beats  the  ground,  and  at  his  mouth  disgorges  clotted 
blood.  Three  Thracians,  too,  of  Boreas'  exalted  line,  and 
three  whom  their  father  Idas  and  Ismara  their  parent  soil 
sent,  by  various  fate  he  overthrows.  Halsesus  runs  up,  and 
the  Auruncian  bands ;  Messapus,  too,  the  son  of  Neptune, 
with  his  steeds  conspicuous  comes  up :  now  these,  now  those, 

30  Which  had  been  plucked  from  the  bodies  of  the  slain.     B. 


336  ^ENEID.  B.  x.  354—392. 

strive 'to  beat  off  each  other.  In  the  very  confines  of  Ausonia 
the  contest  rages.  As  in  the  spacious  sky  jarring  winds  with 
equal  rage  and  force  raise  war ;  nor  they  to  one  another,  nor 
clouds,  nor  sea,  [on  either  side]  give  way :  long  is  the  com- 
bat dubious ;  all  things  stand  struggling  against  each  other : 
just  so  the  Trojan  and  the  Latin  hosts  encounter ;  foot  to  foot 
is  fixed,  and  man  to  man  closely  joined.  But  in  another  quar- 
ter, where  the  torrent  had  far  and  wide  dispersed  whirling 
stones,  and  thickets  uptorn  from  the  banks,  as  soon  as  Pallas 
saw  the  Arcadians,  unused  to  combat  on  foot,  turning  their 
backs  to  Latium  fierce  in  the  pursuit,  since  the  rugged  nature 
of  the  ground  induced  them  to  let  go  their  steeds ;  now  with 
entreaty,  now  with  bitter  expostulation  (the  sole  expedient  left 
in  this  distress),  he  rouses  their  valor :  Whither,  my  fellow- 
soldiers,  do  you  fly  ?  By  yourselves  and  your  own  gallant 
deeds,  by  the  name  of  Evander  your  chief,  by  the  battles  you 
have  won,  and  by  my  hopes,  which  now,  emulating  my  father's 
glory,  trust  not  to  your  heels.  With  the  sword  you  must 
burst  a  passage  through  your  foes,  where  that  globe  of  men  in 
thickest  array  press  on  us :  this  way  your  ennobled  country 
calls  you  and  Pallas  your  leader.  They  are  not  gods  who 
pursue  us :  mortal  ourselves,  by  a  mortal  foe  are  we  urged : 
to  us  as  many  souls,  as  many  hands,  [as  to  them]  belong. 
Lo !  the  ocean  with  his  immense  barrier  of  sea  hems  us  in : 
now  land  too  is  wanting  for  us  to  fly  to :  whither,  into  the 
deep,  or  for  Troy,  shall  we  bend  our  course  ?  He  said,  and 
into  the  midst  of  thick-embodied  foes  bursts  a  way.  Him 
Lagus  first  opposes  impelled  by  his  inauspicious  fate ;  him, 
while  he  is  tugging  a  stone  of  enormous  weight,  he  transfixes, 
with  a  whirled  lance,  where  along  the  middle  [of  the  back] 
the  spine  divided  the  ribs ;  and  forces  away  the  spear  fast 
sticking  in  the  bones :  whom,  [while  thus  employed,]  Hisbon 
fails  in  striking  from  above,  though  this,  indeed,  he  hoped ; 
for,  as  he  rushes  on  unguarded,  while,  by  the  cruel  death  of 
his  companion,  he  is  driven  to  madness,  Pallas  surprises  him 
first,  and  buries  the  sword  in  his  swollen  lungs.  Next  Sthe- 
nelus  he  attacks,  and,  of  the  ancient  race  of  Rhcetus,  Anche- 
molus,  who  dared  to  violate,  by  incest,  his  step-dame's  bed. 
In  the  Rutulian  plains,  likewise,  you  twin-brothers  fell,  Lari- 
dus  and  Thymber,  Daucus'  exactly  similar  offspring,  undis- 
tinguished by  your  own  parents,  and  [the  objects  of]  their 


* 

<*• 


B.  x.  339 — 429.  ^ENEID.  337 

» 

pleasing  error.  But  now  Pallas  on  you  fixed  cruel  marks  of 
distinction ;  for  from  thee,  O  Thymbras,  the  Evandrian  blade 
lopped  off  the  head ;  and  thy  dismembered  hand,  O  Laridus, 
seeks  for  thee  its  owner ;  the  dying  fingers  quiver,  and  gripe 
once  more  the  steel.  Against  their  foes  mixed  indignation 
and  shame  arm  the  Arcadians  fired  by  this  warning,  and  view- 
ing the  hero's  glorious  deeds.  Then  Pallas  transfixes  Rho2teus 
flying  across  [him]  in  his  chariot.  This  gave  Eus  space  [to 
live],  and  just  so  long  respite :  for  at  Dus  he  had  aimed  from 
far  the  sturdy  spear;  which  Rhoatus  coming  between  inter- 
cepts, as  thee  he  flies,  most  valiant  T_euthras,  and  thy  brother 
Tyres ;  and,  rolled  from  his  chariot,  half-dead,  he  spurns  the 
Rutulian  fields.  And,  as  in  summer,  the  winds  having  risen 
to  his  wish,  the  shepherd  lets  loose  scattered  fires  among  the 
woods ;  in  a  trice  Vulcan's  squadrons,  having  seized  the  in- 
termediate trees,  are  at  once  extended  in  horrid,  array  over  all 
the  spacious  plains  ;  victorious  he  sits  viewing  the  triumphant 
flames :  just  so  the  whole  valor  of  thy  troops  in  one  com- 
bines, and  supports  thee,  O  Pallas.  But  Halaesus,  fierce  in 
war,  advances  against  the  hostile  bands,  and  within  the  covert 
of  his  arms  himself  collects.  Ladon,  Pheres,  and  Demodocus 
he  knocks  down  ;  from  Strymonius  with  his  shining  blade  he 
strikes  off  the  right  hand  raised  against  his  throat ;  with  a 
rock  he  batters  Thoas'  front,  and  scatters  the  bones  mingled 
with  bloody  brains.  His  father  in  the  woods  had  concealed 
Halsesus,  presaging  his  fate.  Soon  as  the  aged  sire  in  death 
relaxed  his  aged  eyes,  the  Destinies  laid  hands  on  him,  and 
devoted  him  to  the  arms  of  Evander,  whom  Pallas  approaches, 
first  addressing  his  prayer  thus :  Grant  now,  O  father  Tiber, 
to  this  missile  steed  I  poise,  success,  and  a  passage  through  the 
breast  of  stern  Halaesus ;  so  shall  thy  oak  possess  these  arms 
and  spoils  of  the  hero.  To  this  address  the  god  gave  ear ; 
while  Halaesus  screened  Imaon,  in  an  unhappy  hour  he  ex- 
poses his  defenseless  breast  to  the  Arcadian  dart.  But  Lau- 
sus,  no  small  portion  of  the  war,  suffers  not  his  troops  to  be 
dispirited  by  the  vast  havoc  which  the  hero  made.  First 
Abas  to  him  opposed  he  Mils,  the  knot  and  stay31  of  the  battle. 
Down  drop  Arcadia's  sons,  down  drop  the  Tuscans,  and 

31  "  Nodum"  is  a  metaphor  derived  from  the  difficulty  with  which 
knots  are  unfastened.  On  "  mora"  compare  Silius  L  479,  "Eomani  belli 
inora"  So  Senec.  Ag.  211.  Troad.  124.  Phoen.  458.  B. 

15 


338  -ENEID.  B.  x.  430—466. 

you,  ye  Trojan's,  frames  undestroyed  by  the  Greeks.  Both 
hosts  in  encounter  join,  with  leaders  and  with  forces  equal ; 
those  in  the  rear  press  on  the  ranks  before ;  nor  does  the 
throng  leave  room  to  wield  their  hands  or  weapons.  Here 
Pallas  drives  on  and  urges  the  attack ;  there,  in  opposition  to 
him,  Lausus ;  nor  is  there  great  difference  in  their  ages ;  in 
comeliness  they  are  distinguished ;  but  their  return  to  their 
country  fortune  had  denied.  Yet  he  who  reigns  in  heaven 
supreme  permitted  not  that  with  each  other  they  should  en- 
gage ;  their  destiny  awaits  them  soon  from  a  superior  foe. 

Meanwhile  Turnus,  who  through  the  midst  of  the  host  in 
his  fleet  chariot  cuts  his  way,  his  gentle  sister  warns  to  fly  to 
Lausus'  relief.  Soon  as  his  friends  he  viewed,  [he  exclaimed], 
It  is  time  to  desist  from  battle  :  against  Pallas  I  alone  am 
bound :  to  me  alone  is  Pallas  doomed :  would  to  heaven  his 
sire  himself  were  spectator.  He  said  ;  and  from  the  plain  the 
troops  at  his  command  retired.  But  the  youth,  struck  with 
the  retreat  of  the  Rutulians,  and  the  imperious  orders,  gazes 
on  Turnus  with  astonishment ;  over  his  huge  body  he  rolls  his 
eyes,  and  with  ferocious  visage  all  the  man  aloof  surveys. 
Then  with  these  words  in  return  to  the  tyrant's  speech  moves 
up :  Now,  or  by  bearing  away  triumphal  spoils,  or  by  illus- 
trious death,  shall  I  be  signalized.  For  either  chance  my  sire 
is  equal.  Away  with  your  threatenings.  This  said,  he  advances 
into  the  middle  of  the  plain.  Round  the  Arcadian  hearts  the 
cold  blood  congeals.  Down  from  his  chariot  Turnus  sprang  ; 
on  foot  prepares  to  meet  him  hand  to  hand.  And  as  a  lion, 
when  from  his  lofty  place  of  observation  he  hath  espied  a  bull 
standing  on  the  plains  aloof,  meditating  the  fight,  flies  up  to 
him ;  such  is  the  image  of  Turnus  rushing  [to  the  combat]. 
Soon  as  Pallas  supposed  him  to  be  within  reach  of  the  darted 
lance,  he  makes  the  first  advance  with  strength  unequal, 
[trying]  if  fortune  by  any  means  will  aid  his  bold  enterprise  ; 
and  thus  to  the  lofty  heavens  himself  addresses  :  By  my  father's 
hospitality,  and  those  boards  which  thou  his  guest  didst  visit, 
Alcides,  aid,  I  thee  implore,  my  arduous  attempt :  may  the 
dying  eyes  of  Turnus  behold  me  strip  him  expiring  of  his 
bloody  armor,  and  let  his  dying  eyes  endure  the  sight  of  a 
victorious  foe.  Alcides  heard  the  youth,  and  deep  in  the  bottom 
of  his  heart  a  heavy  groan  suppresses,  and  pours  forth  unavail- 
ing tears.  Then  the  Sire  with  these  kind  words  his  son  be- 


B.  x  467—504.  JENEID.  339 

speaks :  To  every  one  his  day  is  fixed :  a  short  and  irretrievable 
term  of  life  is  given  to  all :  but  by  deeds  to  lengthen  out  fame, 
this  is  virtue's  task.  Under  the  lofty  walls  of  Troy  so  many 
sons  of  gods  have  fallen :  with  them  even  Sarpedon,  my  own 
offspring,  fell ;  Turnus  too  his  destiny  calls,  and  to  the  utmost 
verge  of  life  he  is  arrived.  He  said ;  and  from  the  fields  of  the 
Rutulians  he  averts  his  eye. 

But  Pallas  Avith  mighty  force  hurls  the  spear,  and  from  the 
hollow  scabbard  tears  his  shining  blade.  The  weapon  flying 
lighted  where  the  armor  rises  high  on  the  shoulder,  and,  open- 
ing a  way  through  the  extremity  of  the  shield,  at  length  too 
on  the  great  body  of  Turnus  grazed.  At  this,  Turnus,  long 
poising  a  javelin  tipped  with  sharpened  steel,  darts  it  at  Pallas, 
and  thus  speaks  :  See  whether  ours  be  not  the  more  penetrat- 
ing dart.  He  said ;  and  with  a  quivering  stroke  the  point 
pierces  through  the  mid-shield,  through  so  many  plates  of  iron, 
so  many  of  brass,  while  the  bull's  hide  so  many  times  encom- 
passes it,  and  through  the  corselet's  cumbrous  folds  transfixes 
his  breast  with  a  hideous  gash."  He  in  vain  wrenches  out  the 
reeking  weapon  from  the  wound  :  at  one  and  the  same  passage 
the  blood  and  soul  issue  forth.  Down  on  his  wound  he  falls : 
over  him  his  armor  gave  a  clang ;  and  in  death  with  bloody 
jaws  he  bites  the  hostile  ground.  Whom  Turnus  bestriding, 
says,  Ye  Arcadians,  to  Evander  faithfully  these  my  words  re- 
cord :  in  such  plight  as  he  deserved  I  send  his  Pallas  back. 
Whatever  honor  is  in  a  tomb,  whatever  solace  is  in  interment, 
I  freely  give  him.  His  league  of  friendship  with  ^Eneas  shall 
cost  him  not  a  little.  And  thus  having  spoken,  he  pressed 
with  his  left  foot  the  breathless  corpse,  tearing  away  his  belt's 
enormous  weight,  and  the  horrid  story  with  which  it  was  em- 
bossed (in  one  nuptial  night-  a  band  of  youths  barbarously 
murdered,  and  their  bridal  beds  bathed  in  blood),33  which 
Clonus,  Eurytion's  son,  had  carved  in  abundant  gold  :  in  which 
spoil  Turnus  now  triumphs,  and  exults  in  the  possession.  How 
blind  is  the  mind  of  man  to  fate  and  future  events !  how  un- 
willing to  practice  moderation,  and  how  with  prosperity  elated  ! 
The  time  will  come  when  Turnus  shall  wish  that  it  had  been 
purchased  at  a  dear  price,  that  Pallas  had  not  been  touched, 
and  when  these  spoils  and  this  day  he  shall  detest.  But  Pallas, 

32  Servius,  and  I  think  more  correctly,  refers  "  ingens"  to  "  cuspis."    B. 
C3  i.  e.  tho  story  of  the  daughters  of  Danaus.    B. 


340  JENEHX  B.  X  505—542. 

stcetched  on  his  shield,  a  numerous  retinue  of  his  friends,  with 
many  a  groan  and  tear,  back  convey.  O  thou  that  art  about 
to  return  to  thy  parent,  his  grief  and  ample  glory  both  !  This 
day  first  gave  thee  to  the  war,  the  same  snatches  thee  away  ; 
yet  after  thou  hast  left  vast  heaps  of  Rutulians. 

And  now  not  mere  rumor,  but  an  unquestionable  voucher 
of  so  great  disaster  flies  to  ./Eneas  ;  that  his  friends  were  on 
the  verge  of  utter  ruin,  that  it  was  high  time  to  succor  the 
flying  Trojans.  "With  his  sword  he  mows  down  whatever  was 
near  him,  and  with  the  steel  impetuous  forces  a  wide  passage 
through  the  host,  in  quest  of  thee,  O  Turnus,  proud  of  thy  re- 
cent slaughter.  Pallas,  Evander,  all  are  full  before  his  eyes  ; 
the  first  banquets  in  which  then  a  guest  he  joined,  and  their 
plighted  right  hands.  Here  four  youths,  the  progeny  of  Sulmo, 
and  as  many  more  whom  Ufens  bred,  alive  he  snatches  ;  whom 
as  victims  he  may  offer  to  the  shade  [of  Pallas],  and  drench 
with  their  captive  blood  the  flames  of  his  funeral  pile.  Next, 
when  at  Magus  he  aimed  from  afar  his  hostile  lance,  he  art- 
fully stoops,  and  over  his  head  the  quivering  javelin  flies  ;  and 
embracing  his  knees,  him  suppliant  he  thus  addresses  :  By  my 
father's  manes,  and  the  hopes  of  thy  rising  son  lulus,  I  im- 
plore thee,  spare  this  life,34  both  for  a  son  and  for  a  father's 
sake.  A  stately  mansion  I  possess  ;  talents  of  silver  embossed 
lie  deep-lodged  under  ground  ;  masses  of  wrought  and  un- 
wrought  gold  I  have  ;  it  is  not  upon  this  that  the  victory  of 
the  Trojans  turns:  one  life  will  not  so  great  a  difference 
make.  He  said  ;  to  whom  ^Eneas  thus,  on  the  other  hand, 
replies  :  Those  many  talents  of  gold  and  silver  you  mention, 
reserve  for  your  sons  :  those  mutual  stipulations  of  war  Turnus 
first  cancelled  from  the  moment  Pallas  was  slain.  So  [thinks] 
the  manes  of  my  sire  Anchises,  so  thinks  lulus.  This  said, 
he  grasps  his  helmet  with  his  left  hand,  and  bowing  back  his 
neck,  as  he  begged  for  mercy,  plunged  [in  his  throat]  his 
sword  up  to  the  hilt.  Not  far  on  ^Emomdes,  the  priest  of 
Phoebus  and  Diana,  whose  temples  a  miter  with  holy  fillets 
bound,  in  his  robe  and  burnished  armor  all  refulgent  :  him 
encountering  he  drives  along  the  plain,  and  standing  over  him 
fallen,  offers  him  a  victim,  and  covers  him  with  the  deep  shades 
[of  death].  Serestus,  gathering  up  his  arms,  bears  them  on 


34  A  Greek  expression.     Herodot.  viii.  118,  tauw  ftaaiZrjoe  rf/v 
So  Juvenal  vi.  653,  "  Morte  viri  cupient  animam  servare  catellse."    B. 


B.  x.  542—576.  ^ENEID.  341 

his  shoulders  as  a  trophy  to  thee,  king  Mars.  Caeculus,  born 
of  Vulcan's  race,  and ,  Umbro,  who  came  from  the  Marsian 
mountains,  renew  the  fight.  The  Trojan  prince  burns  with 
fury  against  them.  Anxur's  left  arm  and  his  buckler's  whole 
circumference  he  with  his  sword  had  struck  off.  Some  mighty 
spell  he  had  pronounced,  and  imagined  there  would  be  virtue 
in  the  word  ;  perhaps  he  was  exalting  his  soul  to  heaven  with 
vain  hopes,  and  had  proposed  himself  gray  hairs  and  length 
of  years.  On  the  other  hand,  Tarquitus,  whom  to  sylvan 
Faunus  the  nymph  Dryope  bore,  in  his  refulgent  arms  exult- 
ing, to  the  incensed  hero  himself  opposed.  He,  darting  a 
spear  with  full  force,  renders  his  corselet  and  buckler's  vast 
bulk  useless  for  defense :  then  strikes  down  to  the  ground 
his  head  as  he  begs  in  vain,  and  seeks  to  plead  much  ;  and, 
tumbling  the  warm  trunk,  over  it  pronounces  these  words 
from  his  hostile  breast :-  There  now,  thou  dreaded  one,  lie. 
Thee  in  the  earth  no  dearest  mother  shall  lodge,  nor  in  thy 
native  soil  load  thy  limbs  with  a  grave  ;  to  birds  of  prey  thou 
shalt  be  left ;  or  sunk  in  the  deep,  the  waves  shall  bear  thee 
down,  and  hungry  fishes  suck  thy  wounds.  Forthwith  Antaeus 
and  Lycas,  Turnus'  foremost  leaders,  he  pursues,  and  valiant 
Numa,  and  Gamers  of  yellow  locks,  from  magnanimous  Vol- 
scens  sprung ;  who  of  all  Ausonia's  sons  was  richest  in  land 
estate,  and  over  Amyclae,  the  city  of  silence,35  reigned.  As 
u^gseon  who,  they  say,  had  a  hundred  arms  and  a  hundred 
hands,  and  flashed  fire  from  fifty  mouths  and  breasts ;  when 
against  the  thunderbolts  of  Jove  he  on  so  many  equal  bucklers 
clashed,  unsheathed  so  many  swords :  just  so  the  victorious 
JEneas  wreaked  his  fury  all  over  the  plain,  when  once  his 
pointed  steel  was  warmed  [with  blood],  even  against  the  four 
harnessed  steeds  of  Niphaeus  and  their  chests  opposed  he  ad- 
vances :  but,  as  soon  as  from  far  they  saw  him  marching  up, 
and  breathing  dire  revenge,  with  affright  wheeling  about,  and 
rushing  back,  they  tumble  out  the  chief,  and  whirl  the  chariot 
to  the  shore.  Meanwhile  Lueagus,  in  his  chariot  drawn  by  two 
white  steeds,  flings  himself  into  the  midst,  as  also  his  brother 
Liger  :  but  with  the  reins  his  brother  guides  the  steeds  :  fierce 
Lueagus  flourishes  the  naked  sword.  ^Eneas  could  not  pa- 

35  It  had  been  deserted  by  the  inhabitants,  in  consequence  of  the  ser- 
pents that  infested  it.  So  Wagner.  Heyne  refers  the  epithet  to  its 
Laconian  extraction.  See  Servius.  B. 


342  -<ENE1D.  B.  r.  677—615. 

tiently  see  them  raging  with  such  impetuosity  :  on  he  rushed, 
and  majestic  stood  before  them  with  his  lance  opposed.  To 
whom  Liger  [said],  You  see  not  here  the  steeds  of  Diomede, 
nor  the  chariot  of  Achilles,  or  the  plains  of  Troy  :  now  on  this 
ground  shall  a  period  to  the  war  and  thy  life  be  given.  Such 
words  from  raring  Liger  fly :  but  somewhat  instead  of  words 
the  Trojan  hero  in  return  prepares  ;  for  against  his  foe  a  javelin 
he  hurls;  As  Lucagus  stooping  forward  to  the  lash  with  a  dart 
urged  his  yoked  steeds,  while  with  his  left  foot  thrown  out  be- 
fore he  prepares  himself  for  the  fight ;  the  spear  passes  through 
the  lowest  border  of  his  shining  buckler,  then  pierces  his  left 
groin :  tossed  from  the  chariot  in  the  pangs  of  death  he  wal- 
lows ;  whom  pious  ^Eneas  in  bitter  terms  addresses  :  Lucagus, 
it  is  not  the  slowness  of  thy  steeds  in  flight  thy  chariot  hath 
betrayed,  nor  have  empty  shadows  turned  them  from  the  foe  : 
thyself  springing  from  the  wheels,  desertest  the  chariot.  Thus 
having  said,  he  seized  the  steeds.  His  hapless  brother,  leap- 
ing down  from  the  same  car,  stretched  forth  his  defenseless 
hands :  By  thy  own  self,  O  Trojan  hero,  by  the  parents  who 
begot  thee  thus  illustrious,  spare  this  life,  and  pity  a  wretch 
who  begs  for  mercy.  To  whom,  pleading  at  greater  length, 
^Eneas :  It  was  not  language  like  this  you  lately  uttered  :  die, 
and  brother  desert  not  brother.  Then  with  the  pointed  steel 
he  discloses  his  breast,  the  latent  seat  of  the  soul.38  Such 
havoc  made  the  Trojan  chief  over  the  field,  raging  like  an  im- 
petuous flood  or  gloomy  whirlwind.  At  length  the  boy  As- 
canius  and  the  youth,  in  vain  blocked  up,  sally  forth  and  quit 
the  camp. 

Meanwhile  Jupiter,  of  his  own  free  motion,  thus  addresses 
Juno :  My  sister,  and  my  dearest  consort  both !  it  is  Venus, 
as  you  alleged,  who  supports  the  Trojan  powers :  nor  does 
your  judgment  deceive  you  ;  no  active  hands  for  war  have  the 
men  themselves,  no  souls  courageous  or  patient  of  danger. 
To  whom  Juno,  all  submission,  [says,]  My  spouse,  in  whom 
all  beauty  dwells,  why  dost  thou  tease  me  oppressed  with  an- 
guish, and  dreading  thy  severe  mandates  ?  Had  I  that  influ- 
ence over  your  affection  which  once  I  had,  and  which  it 
became  me  to  have,  thou  the  Omnipotent  couldst  not  surely 
refuse  me  this  ;  that  I  might  have  it  in  my  power  both  to  res- 

38  Davidson  has  happily  anticipated  the  explanation  of  Jacobs,  regard- 
ing "  latebras  animaj"  as  in  opposition  with  "  pectus,"  not  vice  versa.  B. 


B.  x.  616—652.  ^ENEID.  343 

cue  Turnus  from  the  fight,  and  preserve  him  in  safety  for  his 
father  Daunus.  Now  let  him  die,  and  glut  the  vengeance  of 
the  Trojans  with  his  pious  blood ;  yet  from  our  stock  he  de- 
rives his  name,  and  Pilumnus  is  his  father  in  the  fourth  de- 
gree :  and  often  with  liberal  hand  and  many  offerings  has  he 
heaped  thy  courts.  To  whom  the  sovereign  of  the  ethereal 
heaven  thus  briefly  speaks :  If  you  plead  for  a  respite  from 
present  death,  and  a  breathing-time  to  the  short-lived  youth, 
and  if  it  be  thy  will  that  I  should  settle  it  thus ;  bear  off 
Turnus  by  flight,  and  save  him  from  impending  fate.  Thus  far 
to  indulge  thee  is  allowed.  But  if  any  higher  favor  be  couched 
under  these  petitions,  and  you  imagine  that  the  whole  face  of 
the  war  is  to  be  shifted  or  reversed,  you  feed  yourself  with 
empty  hopes.  To  whom  Juno  [replies]  with  tears :  What  if 
thou  shouldst  grant  with  thy  heart  what  in  words  thou  de- 
clinest,  and  this  life  to  Turnus  were  to  be  continued  fixed  ? 
Now  a  woeful  end  awaits  the  guiltless  youth,  or  vain  are  my 
pretensions  to  the  truth :  but  oh  that  I  may  rather  be  with 
groundless  fears  misled,  and  that  thou,  to  whom  the  power  be- 
longs, mayest  alter  thy  purposes  for  the  better ! 

When  she  had  pronounced  these  words,  forthwith  she  shot 
down  from  the  lofty  sky  arrayed  in  a  cloud,  driving  storm  and 
tempest  through  the  air ;  and  sought  the  Trojan  army  and 
Latin  camp.  Then  of  a  hollow  cloud,  strange  monster  to  be- 
hold !  the  goddess,  in  the  shape  of  ^Eneas,  dresses  up  in  Trojan 
armor  an  airy  powerless  phantom,  and  imitates  to  the  life 
both  his  shield  and  the  crested  helmet  of  his  divine  head ; 
gives  it  empty  words,  and  gives  it  sound  without  sense,  and 
counterfeits  his  gait  as  he  walks ;  such  as  those  forms  which, 
after  death  are  said  to  flutter  about,  or  those  dreams  which 
mock  the  slumbering  senses.  But  the  phantom  frisky  exults 
before  the  foremost  ranks,  and  the  hero  with  darts  provokes, 
and  with  the  tongue  defies :  on  whom  Turnus  presses,  and  at 
a  distance  hurls  a  hissing  spear :  the  specter,  wheeling  about, 
turned  its  steps.  But  then,  as  soon  as  Turnus  imagined  that 
.^Eneas  with  his  back  turned  was  giving  ground,  and  boisterous 
in  soul  drank  in  vain  hope,  [he  cried  out,]  ^Eneas,  whither 
dost  thou  fly  ?  Desert  not  thy  plighted  nuptials  :  by  this  right 
hand  shall  the  settlement  be  given  you  in  quest  of  which  you 
have  traversed  the  seas.  Thus  vociferating,  he  pursues  him, 
and  brandishes  his  naked  sword  ;  nor  sees  that  the  winds  bear 
his  joys  away. 


344  JENEID.  B.  X.  653—691. 

By  chance  there  stood  a  ship  adjoining  to  the  margin  of  a 
steep  rock  with  extended  ladders,  and  a  bridge  prepared,  in 
which  king  Osinius  had  been  wafted  from  the  Clusian  shores. 
Hither  in  fearful  haste  the  image  of  tineas  flying  throws  it- 
self into  a  hiding-place  :  and  Turnus  with  no  less  speed  pur- 
sues ;  surmounts  all  obstacles,  and  overleaps  the  lofty  bridges. 
Scarcely  had  he  reached  .the  prow,  when  Saturnia  bursts  the 
cable,  and  over  the  rolling  waves  hurries  the  vessel  torn  away 
from  the  shore.  But  him  absent  -/Eneas  with  impatience  to  the 
combat  seeks ;  and  many  a  hero  whom  he  meets  on  the  way  he 
dispatches  to  the  shades  below.  Then  the  fleeting  image  now 
no  further  concealment  seeks,  but  soaring  aloft  blended  itself 
with  a  dusky  cloud ;  when  in  the  mean  time  the  whirlwind 
drives  Turnus  on  the  mid-ocean.  Back  he  casts  his  eyes  quite 
at  a  loss,  and  thankless  for  his  preservation,  and  both  hands  to 
heaven  he  raises  with  his  voice :  Almighty  Father,  couldst  thou 
judge  me  worthy  of  such  criminal  shame,  and  appoint  me  to 
suflfer  such  punishment  ?  "Whither  am  I  borne  ?  Whence  am 
I  come  ?  What  ignominious  flight  carries  me  off,  and  in  what 
disgrace  will  it  bring  me  back  ?  Shall  I  again  venture  to  be- 
hold the  walls  of  LaurenLum,  or  the  Ausonian  camp  ?  What 
will  that  band  of -warriors  [say],  who  followed  me  and  ray  arms, 
and  whem,  O  foul  impiety !  I  abandoned  in  horrible  death  ? 
And  now  I  see  them  straggling,  and  hear  the  groans  of  the 
falling.  What  can  I  do  ?  or  what  earth  will  now  yawn  deep 
enough  for  me  ?  Or  rather,  on  me,  ye  winds,  have  pity ;  on 
rocks,  on  crags  (I  Turnus  heartily  entreat  you)  drive  my  vessel, 
and  fling  it  on  the  cruel  shelves  of  quicksands,  whither  neither 
the  Rutulians  nor  conscious  fame  may  follow  me.  So  saying, 
now  hither,  now  thither,  he  fluctuates  in  his  soul,  whether 
frantic  he  shall  sheathe  the  pointed  steel  in  his  bosom  on  ac- 
count of  such  a  flagrant  disgrace,  and  through  his  sides  drive 
home  the  cruel  sword,  or  throw  himself  into  the  midst  of  the 
waves,  by  swimming  seek  the  winding  shore,  and  rush  again 
amid  the  Trojan  arms.  Thrice  he  essayed  either  expedient : 
thrice  mightiest  Juno  restrained,  and  pitying  him  from  her  soul 
checked  the  youth.  He  glides  away,  cutting  the  deep,  with 
prosperous  wind  and  tide,  and  is  wafted  to  the  ancient  city  of 
his  father  Daunus. 

Meanwhile,  by  Jove's  suggestion,  furious  Mezentius  suc- 
ceeds [him]  in  the  fight,  and  assaults  the  Trojans  flushed  with 
success.  The  Tuscan  troops  rush  on  him  at  once,  and  with 


B.  x.  692—722.  ^ENEID.  345 

all  their  rage  and  darts  following  press  on  him,  on  him  alone. 
He  [stands  firm]  as  a  rock  that  projects  into  the  vast  ocean, 
obnoxious  to  the  fury  of  the  winds,  and  exposed  to  the  main, 
and  endures  all  the  violence  and  threatenings  of  the  sky  and 
sea,  itself  remaining  unmoved.  He  stretches  on  the  ground 
Hebrus,  the  son  of  Dolicaon,  with  him  Latagus  and  fugitive 
Palmus ;  but  to  Latagus  with  a  rock  and  vast  fragment  of  a 
mountain  he  gives  a  preventing  blow  on  his  jaws  and  adverse 
face  :  Palmus  hamstrung  he  suffers  to  roll  inactive  ;  and  gives 
Lausus37  to  wear  his  armor  on  his  shoulders,  and  on  his  helm- 
et's top  to  fix  his  plumes.  Evas  the .  Phrygian  too  [he  over- 
throws], and  Mimas,  the  companion  of  Paris,  and  his  equal 
in  age ;  whom  Theano  brought  forth  to  his  father  Amycus  in 
the  same  night  that  queen  Hecuba,  the  daughter  of  Cisseus, 
pregnant  with  a  •  firebrand,  bore  Paris :  he  in  his  native 
city  buried  lies,  while  the  Laurentine  coast  possesses  Mimas 
unknown.  And  as  a  huge38  boar  by  baying  hounds  pursued 
from  the  high  mountains  (while  pine-bearing  Vesulus3'  had 
sheltered  for  many  years,  and  the  lake  of  Laurentum),  that  in 
the  reedy  wood  had  fed,  makes  a  stand  soon  as  he  has  arrived 
among  the  toils,  ferocious  roars  aloud,  and  bristles  up  his 
shoulders :  nor  has  any  one  the  courage  to  venture  boldly 
or  approach  near  him,  but  aloof  they  ply  him  with  darts  and 
shouts  secure  from  harm  :40  undaunted,  however,  he  resists 
their  attacks  on  every  side,  gnashing  his  tusks,  and  shakes  the 
lances  from  his  back  :  in  the  same  manner,  of  those  whom  just 
rage  against  Mezentius  fires,  not  one  has  spirit  to  encounter 
him  with  the  naked  sword ;  at  a  distance  they  gall  him  with 
missile  weapons  and  loud  clamor.  From  the  ancient  coasts 
of  Corytus  had  Acron  come,  a  Grecian,  who  deserted  [to 
yEneas],  leaving  his  nuptials  unconsummated :  him  when  from 
far  Mezentius  saw  breaking  through  the  midst  of  the  ranks, 
gayly  arrayed  in  the  plumes  and  purple  favors  of  his  be- 

37  Lausus,  a  son  of  king  Mezentius,  killed  by  JEneas.  Mimas,  a  Tro- 
jan, son  of  Amycus  and  Theano,  and  the  intimate  friend  of  Paris.  He 
accompanied  JEneas  to  Italy,  and  was  slain  by  Mezentius. 

33  "  Antiqui  iUe,  vel  magnitudini,  vel  nobilitati  adsignabant."  SERVIUS. 
See,  however,  Anthon's  note.  B. 

39  Vesulus  (Viso),  a  large  mountain  in  the  range  of  the  Alps,  between 
Liguria  and  Gaul,  where  the  Po  takes  Its  rise. 

40  Compare  Silius  v.  442,  "  propioremque  addere  Martem  Haud  ausum 
cuiquam,  laxo  ceu  bellua  campo  Incessebatur  tutis  ex  agmine  telis."    B. 

15* 


346  JENEID.  B.  x  723—761. 

trothed  spouse ;  as  a  famished  lion  that  often  ranges  over  the 
lofty  stalls,  (for  maddening  hunger  prompts  him),  if  by  chance 
he  espies  a  timorous  goat,  or  stag  conspicuous  for  stately  horns, 
exults  yawning  hideously,  rears  his  hair  on  end,  and  couching 
down  over  [his  prey],  fast  to  the  entrails  clings,  black  gore 
laves  his  ravenous  jaws :  thus  Mezentius  rushes  with  alacrity 
on  the  embodied  foes.  Ill-fated  Acron  is  overthrown,  and  ex- 
piring spurns  with  his  heels  the  tawny  ground,  and  with  his 
blood  besmears  the  broken  lance.  The  same  deigned  not  to 
cut  off  Orodes  as  he  fled,  or  with  the  darted  spear  to  give  him 
a  wound  unseen :  but,  overtaking  him,  he  confronted  face  to 
face,  and  encountered  man  to  man  ;  superior  not  in  stratagem, 
but  valiant  arms.  Then,  trampling  on  him  overthrown,  and  rest- 
ing on  his  lance,  [he  says]  :  Friends,  stately  Orodes  lies  no  mean 
portion  of  the  war.  His  associates  in  acclamation  join,  repeat- 
ing the  joyful  paean.  But  he  expiring  [says]  :  Whoever  thou 
art,  not  over  me  unrevenged,  nor  long  shalt  thou  victorious 
rejoice ;  thee  too  like  destiny  awaits,  and  soon  shalt  thou  on 
these  same  fields  be  stretched.  To  whom  Mezentius,  smiling 
with  a  mixture  of  indignation,  [replied]  :  Now  die ;  but  of  me 
let  the  father  of  gods  and  king  of  men  dispose.  So  saying,  he 
from  the  body  outdrew  the  dart.  Cruel  slumbers  and  the  iron 
sleep  of  death  press  down  his  eyes ;  his  eyes  are  sealed  in  ever- 
lasting night.41  CaBdicus  slays  Alcathous,  Sacrator/Hydaspes, 
Rapo  Parthenius,  and  Orses  extremely  robust  in  strength  ;  Mes- 
sapus  [kills]  Clonius,  and  Ericetes  the  Lycaonian ;  the  one 
by  a  fall  from  his  unruly  steed  thrown  on  the  ground ;  the 
other  on  foot  himself  on  foot  [assailed  :  against  him]  Lycian 
Agis  too  had  stepped  forth ;  but  him  Valerius,  not  lacking 
of  the  valor  of  his  ancestors,  overthrows  :  Anthronius  by  Salius 
falls,  and  Salius  by  Nealces,  skilled  in  the  javelin  and  far- 
deceiving  arrow.  Now  stern  Mars  equaled  the  distresses  and 
mutual  deaths :  the  victors  and  the  vanquished  equally  slew, 
and  equally  fell :  nor  these,  nor  those,  know  what  it  is  to  fly. 
In  the  courts  of  Jove  the  gods  compassionate  the  fruitless  rage 
of  both,  and  [seem  to  lament]  that  such  toils  are  appointed  to 
mortals.  On  the  one  side  Venus,  on  the  other  Saturnian  Juno 
sits  spectator.  Pale  Tisiphone  in  the  midst  of  thousands  wreaks 
her  fury.  .  .,-" 

41  I  almost  prefer  the  ablative,  as  in  Ovid  Ep.  x.  113.    See  Burm.  on 
Propert.  ii.  10,  17.     B. 


B.  x.  762—796.  .<ENEnX  347 

But  now  Mezentius  all  turbulent  and  boisterous  advances  in 
the  field,  brandishing  his  massy  spear ;  as  huge  Orion,  when 
on  foot  he  marches,  cutting  his  way  through  the  vast  watery 
fields  of  the  mid-ocean,  with  his  shoulder  overtops  the  waves ; 
or,  conveying  an  aged  ash  from  the  high  mountains,  stalks  on 
the  ground,  and  hides  his  head  among  the  clouds  ;  just  so  Me- 
zentius in  vast  armor  strides  along.  Him  on  the  other  hand 
.^Eneas,  having  descried  him  in  the  long  battalion,  prepares 
to  encounter.  He  unterrified  remains  expecting  his  mag- 
nanimous foe,  and  stands  firm  in  his  own  vast  mass  of  frame ; 
and,  measuring  with  his  eye  as  much  space  as  his  javelin 
could  reach,  [says,]  Now  let  this  right  hand,  my  god,  and  the 
missile  weapon43  which  I  poise,  be  my  aid ;  I  vow  that  you, 
my  own  Lausus,  shall  be  clad  in  the  spoils  torn  from  the 
pirate's  body,  the  trophy  of  JEneas.  He  said,  and  hurled  from 
afar  the  hissing  dart :  but  the  winged  dart  is  by  the  shield 
flung  off,  and  deep  pierces  illustrious  Antores  between  the  side 
and  flank ;  Antores,  the  attendant  of  Hercules,  who  from  Ar- 
gos  sent  had  joined  Evander,  and  settled  in  his  Italian  city. 
He  falls,  unhappy,  by  another's  wound,  looks  up  to  heaven, 
and  in  death  remembers  his  beloved  Argos.  Then  pious 
^Eneas  darts  his  spear :  through  the  concave  orb  of  triple 
brass,  through  the  linen  folds,  and  the  work  with  three  bulls' 
hides"  interwoven,  it  made  way,  and  settled  low  down  in  the 
groin ;  but  had  spent  its  force.  Instantly  ^Eneas,  over- 
joyed at  seeing  the  Tuscan  blood,  snatches  his  sword  from 
his  thigh,  and  darts  impetuous  ou  his  confused  foe.  Lausus, 
soon  as  he  saw  it,  heaved  a  deep  groan  in  fond  pity  to  his  be- 
loved sire,  and  the  tears  came  trickling  down  his  cheeks. 
Here  be  assured  I  shall  not  pass  in  silence  either  thee,  praise- 
worthy youth,  or  the  catastrophe  of  thy  piteous  death,  or  thy 
deeds,  thou  best  of  sons,  if  any  future  age  will  give  credit  to 
an  act  so  noble.  The  father,  drawing  back  his  steps,  quite 
disabled  and  encumbered,  gave  ground,  and  in  his  buckler 
trailed  the  hostile  spear.  The  youth  sprang  forward,  and 
flung  himself  amid  the  armed  troops ;  and  stood  under  the 

*2  See  my  note  on  ^Esch.  Sept.  c.  Th.  p.  51,  ed.  Bohn.     B. 

43  Observe  the  metaphor  by  which  the  animal  itself  is  put  for  its  hide. 
Lucan  iv.  133,  "  cassoque  induta  juvenco."  Statins  Theb.  "  clipeum  vea- 
tisse  juvenco."  B. 


348  -£JNEID.  B.  x.  797—830. 

point  of  ^Eneas'  sword,  just  as  he  was  rising  with  his  arm, 
and  fetching  the  stroke ;  and  keeping  him  awhile  at  bay,  sus- 
tained the  shock.  His  friends  second  him  with  loud  acclama- 
tion, till,  by  the  target  of  the  son  protected,  the  father  with- 
drew ;  fling  showers  of  darts,  and  at  a  distance  repel  the  foe 
with  missile  weapons.  -<35neas  storms,  and  keeps  himself 
under  covert  [of  his  shield].  And  as,  if  at  times  the  clouds 
in  a  drift  of  hail  rush  down,  every  laboring  hind  flies  from 
the  fields  away,  and  every  swain,  and  the  traveler  lurks  in 
some  secure  retreat,  either  on  the  banks  of  a  river,  or  in  the 
cleft  of  a  high  rock,  the  shower  be  overblown,  that  on  the 
earth,  when  the  sun  returns,  they  may  be  able  to  pursue  the 
labors  of  the  day :  just  so  ^Eneas,  with  darts  from  every 
quarter  overwhelmed,  sustains  the  whole  storm  of  war,  till 
the  thunder  spends  its  rage  ;  and  chides  Lausus,  and  threatens 
him  thus :  Whither  dost  thou  rush  to  thy  own  destruction, 
and  why  dost  thou  attempt  what  exceeds  thy  strength  ?  Thy 
pious  duty  blindfolds  thee  unguarded.  He  infatuated  still 
braves  [the  hero]  no  less.  And  now  the  fierce  wrath  of  the 
Trojan  leader  rises  to  a  greater  height,  and  the  Destinies  to 
Lausus  collect  the  last  threads  [of  life]  ;  for  ^Eneas  through 
the  middle  of  his  body  plunges  his  mighty  sword  into  the 
youth,  and  buries  it  to  the  hilt.44  The  pointed  steel  pierced 
both  through  the  thin  shield,  the  light  armor  of  the  vaunting 
youth,  and  the  vest,  which  with  soft  thread  of  gold  his  mother 
had  spun;  and  the  blood  filled  his  bosom  :  then  to  the  shades 
his  soul  fled  mourning  through  the  air,  and  left  the  body.  But 
soon  as  the  offspring  of  Anchises  saw  his  visage  and  dying 
looks,  his  looks  wondrously  pale,  in  pity  he  drew  a  heavy 
groan,  and  stretched  forth  his  hand;  and  the  image  of  his 
filial  pity  touched  his  soul.  Lamented  youth,  what  recom- 
pense for  those  virtues,  what  honor  becoming  so  great  ex- 
cellence, shall  pious  ^Eneas  on  thee  now  confer  ?  Thy  arms, 
wherein  thou  rejoiced,  still  retain:  and  to  the  manes  and 
ashes  of  thy  parents,  if  that  be  any  object  of  thy  care,  I  re- 
sign thee.  Yet,  hapless  one,  with  this  thou  shalt  solace  thy 
wretched  death ;  by  the  hand  of  great  ^Eneas  thou  faUest." 

44  "  Totum"  seems  equivalent  to  "capulo  tenus."     B. 

45  Compare  Ovid  Met.  viii.  7,   "Magnaque  dat  nobis  tantua  solatia 
victor."    B. 


B.  x.  830—863.  jENEID.  349 

Then  straight  he  chides  his  lingering  followers,  and  from  the 
ground  raises  up  the  youth,  with  his  blood  marring  his  locks 
in  comely  order  dressed. 

Meanwhile  the  father  at  the  stream  of  the  river  Tiber 
stanched  his  wounds  with  water,48  and  gave  a  more  easy  pos- 
ture to  his  body,  leaning  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree.  From  the 
boughs  apart  his  brazen  helmet  hangs,  and  his  unwieldy  arms 
rest  on  the  mead.  Chosen  youths  around  him  stand  ;  himself 
faint,  panting  for  breath,  eases  his  drooping  neck,  having 
spread  on  his  breast  a  length  of  waving  beard.  OfLausushe 
incessantly  inquires,  and  many  messengers  he  sends  again  and 
again  to  recall  him  [from  the  fight],  and  bear  to  him  the 
orders  of  his  afflicted  father.  But  his  weeping  friends  were 
carrying  lifeless  Lausus  on  their  arms,  a  mighty  corpse,  and 
with  mighty  wound  overthrown.47 

The  ill-boding  mind  [of  Mezentius]  at  a  distance  under- 
stood their  groans.  His  hoary  locks  with  vile  dust  he  de- 
forms, to  heaven  stretches  both  his  hands,  and  fast  to  the  body 
clings:  O  my  son,  was  I  with  such  fond  desire  of  life  pos- 
sessed, to  suffer  him  whom  I  begot  to  substitute  himself  for 
me  to  the  foe's  right  hand  ?  by  these  wounds  of  thine  am  I 
thy  father  saved,  living  by  thy  death  ?  Alas  !  now  at  length 
on  wretched  me  my  exile  heavy  lies,  now  a  wound  is  driven 
deep  home.  I  too,  my  sou,  the  same  have  by  my  guilt  sullied 
thy  fame,  for  odious  misdeeds  driven  from  my  throne  and  pa- 
ternal scepter.  It  is  I  that  to  my  country  owed  satisfaction, 
and  to  the  odium '  of  my  subjects  ought  to  have  forfeited  my 
guilty  life  by  every  kind  of  death.  And  still  I  live :  nor  yet 
from  men  and  light  withdraw :  but  I  will  withdraw.  Then 
with  these  words  he  raises  himself  on  his  maimed  thigh ;  and, 
though  the  violent  smart  of  the  deep  wound  retards  him,  yet, 
not  cast  down,  he  orders  his  courser  to  be  brought.  This  was 
his  glory,  this  his  solace ;  by  this  he  came  off  victorious  in  all 
his  wars.  The  sympathizing  animal  he  bespeaks,  and  thus 
begins :  Long,  Rhcebus,  have  we  lived,  if  aught  can  be  said 
to  subsist  long  with  mortals.  To-day  you  shall  either  vic- 
torious bear  away  the  head  of  ^Eneas,  and  those  spoils  all 

46  That  this  was  the  customary  treatment,  we  learn  from  Celsus  v.  26. 
Athenaeus  ii.  4.    B. 

47  So  Silius  v.  524,  "Interea  exanimem  mcesti  super  arma  Sychaeum 
Portabant  Poeni,  corpusque  in  castra  ferebant."    B. 


350  ^ENEID.  B.  x.  864—899. 

bathed  in  his  blood,  and  with  me  avenge  the  griefs  of  Lausus  ; 
or,  if  no  efforts  open  a  way,  you  shall  fall  with  me  :  for  never, 
I  presume,  wilt  thou,  most  generous,  deign  to  bear  the  com- 
mands of  another,  and  a  Trojan  lord.  He  said  :  and  received 
on  his  back,  placed  his  limbs  on  the  accustomed  seat,  and  with 
pointed  javelins  loaded  each  hand,  his  head  gleaming  with 
brass,  and  roughly  garnished  with  a  crest  of  horse-hair.  Thus 
with  rapid  speed  he  drove  into  the  midst.  Deep  in  his  heart 
boils  overwhelming  shame :  and  frantic  rage,  with  intermin- 
gled grief,  and  love  racked  with  furious  despair,  and  con- 
scious worth :  and  here  thrice  with  loud  voice  he  called  ./Eneas. 
./Eneas  knew  him  well ;  and,  pleased  [with  the  challenge, 
thus]  his  prayer  addresses :  So  may  that  great  father  of  the 
gods,  so  may  exalted  Apollo  influence  thee  to  .begin  the  com- 
bat. This  only  he  said,  and  with  his  menacing  spear  ad- 
vances against  him.  But  he  [exclaimed],  Most  barbarous 
man,  why  thinkest  thou  to  affright  me,  now  that  my  son  is 
snatched  from  me?  This  was  the  only  way  whereby  thou 
couldst  destroy  me.  I  neither  fear  death,  nor  any  of  your 
gods  regard.  Forbear  threats :  now  I  am  come  to  die,  but 
first  to  thee  these  gifts  I  bring.  He  said,  and  hurled  a  dart 
against  the  foe ;  then  after  that  another  and  another  he  fixes 
fast,  and  flies  around  in  a  spacious  circuit;  but  the  golden 
boss  sustains  the  shock.  Thrice  round  ./Eneas,  as  he  stood 
against  him,  he  rode  in  circles  to  the  left,  throwing  javelins 
with  his  hand ;  thrice  the  Trojan  hero,  .  [wheeling  as  he 
wheels],  bears  about  with  him  in  his  brazen  shield  a  frightful 
grove  [of  spears].  'And  now  when  he  is  tired  with  spinning 
out  so  long  delays,  and  drawing  out  so  many  darts,  and  when 
he  is  severely  harassed,  being  engaged  in  an  unequal  fight, 
revolving  many  thoughts  in  his  mind,  at  length  he  springs 
forth,  and  between  the  hollow  temples  of  the  warrior-steed 
darts  his  lance.  The  horse  raises  himself  upright,  then  with 
his  heels  buffets  the  air,  and  falling  upon  his  dismounted 
rider,  keeps  him  down,  and  falling  forward,  overlays  his 
prostrate  shoulder.  The  Trojans  and  Latins  both  with  ac- 
clamations rend  the  sky.  ./Eneas  flies  to  him,  and  snatches  his 
sword  from  the  scabbard  and  over  him  these  [words  pro- 
nounces] :  Where  is  now  the  stern  Mezentius  ?  where  is  that 
wild  impetuosity  of  soul  ?  On  the  other  hand,  the  Tuscan,  as 
soon  as  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven  he  began  to  breathe  the 


B.  x.  900—908.    XL  1—15.       ^NEID.  351 

air,  and  recover  his  senses,  [said,]  Despiteful  foe,  why  insult- 
est  thou  and  threatenest  death  ?  There  is  no  crime  in  shed- 
ding my  blood ;  nor  engaged  I  in  the  combat  on  such  terms 
[that  you  should  spare  my  life],  nor  did  my  Lausus  make1 
such  a  contract  with  you  on  my  behalf.  One  thing  I  implore, 
by  that  grace,  if  any  grace  to  a  vanquished  foe  belongs,  suffer 
my  body  to  be  covered  with  earth.  I  know  the  cruel  resent- 
ment of  my  subjects  besets  me  round  ;48  defend  me,  I  pray 
you,  from  this  outrage,  and  to  a  grave  consign  me  in  part- 
nership with  my  son.  He  said,  and  in  his  throat,  not  unpre- 
pared, receives  the  blade,  and  pours  forth  life  in  the  blood 
streaming:  on  his  armor. 


BOOK  XL 

In  the  Eleventh.  Book,  the  funeral  of  Pallas  is  solemnized.  Latinns,  in 
council,  attempts  a  reconciliation  with  ^Eneas,  which  is  prevented  by  Tur- 
nus,  and  by  the  hostile  approach  of  the  Trojan  army.  Camilla  greatly 
signalizes  herself,  bat  is  at  last  slain,  when  night  puts  an  end  to  the 
combat. 

MEANWHILE  Aurora  rising  left  the  ocean.  JEneas,  though 
both  his  cares  strongly  urge  him  to  allot  time  for  interring 
his  friends,  and  his  mind  is  disturbed  by  the  death  [of  Pallas], 
yet,  in  consequence  of  his  victory,  paid  to  the  gods  his  vows 
soon  as  the  dawn  appeared.1  A  huge  oak,  with  its  boughs 
on  every  side  lopped  off,  he  erected  on  a  rising  ground,  and 
adorned  it  with  shining  arms,  the  spoils  of  king  Mezentius : 
to  thee  a  trophy,  thou  great  warrio*-god !  He  fits  [to  the 
trunk]  his  crest  dripping  with  blood,  and  the  hero's  shattered 
arms,  and  his  breastplate  in  twice  six  places  dented  and  trans- 
fixed ;  and  to  the  left  arm  he  fastens  his  target  of  brass,  and 
from  the  neck  suspends  his  ivory-hilted  sword.  Then  thus 
beginning  he  encourages  his  joyous  friends  (for  all  the  chiefs 
in  a  crowded  body  inclosed  him)  :  Warriors,  our  most  import- 
ant work  is  done :  henceforth,  all  fear  be  banished.  For 
what  remains,  these  are  the  spoils,  the  first-fruits  of  victory 

43  He  feared  they  would  deprive  him  of  sepulture.     B. 

1  Servius  well  remarks  that  those  who  were  polluted  by  a  funeral  could 
not  make  offerings  to  the  gods,  until  they  had  been  purified.  If,  how- 
ever, as  in  the  present  case,  a  man  was  bound  to  the  performance  of  both 
duties,  he  first  made  his  offering,  and  then  engaged  in  the  funeral  rites.  B. 


352  JENEID.  B.  XL  16—55. 

Won  from  that  insolent  tyrant ;  and  to  this  state  Mezentius  is 
by  my  arm  reduced.  Now  to  the  king  and  the  walls  of  La- 
tiurn  our  way  lies  open  :  make  ready  your  arms,  and  with 
stout  hearts  and  hopes  anticipate  the  war,  that  obstacles  may 
not  detain  you  unawares,  or  deliberation,  resulting  from  fear, 
retard  you,  slow  of  movement,  when  first  the  gods  permit  us 
to  pluck  up  the  standard,  and  to  lead  forth  the  youth  from 
the  camp.  Meanwhile  let  us  commit  to  earth  the  unburied 
corpses  of  our  friends  ;  which  is  the  sole  honor  in  deep  Ache- 
ron. Go,  he  says,  with  the  last  duties  grace  those  illustrious 
souls  who  for  us  have  won  this  countiy  with  their  blood ;  and 
first  to  the  mourning  city  of  Evander  let  Pallas  be  conveyed, 
whom,  not  deficient  in  prowess,  a  gloomy  inauspicious  day  cut 
off,  and  sank  in  an  untimely  death.  Thus  weeping  he  speaks, 
and  to  the  threshold  takes  his  way,  where  aged  Acoetes 
watched  the  corpse  of  lifeless  Pallas  laid  out :  Acoetes,  who 
formerly  was  armor-bearer  to  Arcadian  Evander,  and  now 
with  less  auspicious  omens  came  [to  the  war],  appointed 
guardian  to  his  darling  foster-son.  The  whole  retinue  of  his 
servants  stood  around,  a  band  of  Trojans  and  mourning  dames 
of  Ilium,  with  tresses  in  usual  form  disheveled.  But  soon  as 
.^neas  entered  the  lofty  gates,  beating  their  breasts  they 
raise  to  heaven  a  mighty  groan,  and  the  palace  rings  with 
mournful  lamentation.  When  he  himself  beheld  the  bolstered 
head  and  face  of  Pallas,  white  and  cold  as  snow,  and  in  hia 
smooth  breast  the  gaping  wound  of  the  Ausouian  spear,  he 
thus  with  gushing  tears  begins  :  Lamented  youth,  how  envious 
was  Fortune,  just  when  she  began  to  smile,  to  snatch  thee 
from  me,  that  thou  shouldst  not  see  my  kingdom,  nor  be  borne 
victorious  to  thy  paternal  dwelling !  Not  such  things  of  thee 
I  at  parting  promised  to  thy  sire  Evander,  when  taking  leave 
of  me  with  embraces,  he  sent  me  against  a  mighty  empire, 
and  trembling  warned  me  that  the  enemy  were  fierce,  and 
that  the  battle  would  be  with  a  sturdy  nation.  And  now  he 
indeed,  highly  possessed  with  empty  hope,  is,  perhaps,  both 
making  vows,  and  loading  the  altars  with  offerings  ;  while  we 
in  grief  with  unavailing  pomp  attend  the  youth,  a  lifeless 
corpse,  and  now  released  from  his  allegiance  to  the  powers 
above.  Ill-fated  sire,  thou  shalt  see  the  dismal  funeral  of  thy 
own  son  !  Is  it  thus  we  return  ?  are  these  our  hoped-for  tri- 
umphs ?  this  my  boasted  confidence  ?  Yet,  Evander,  thou 


B.  xi.  56—93.  ^ENEID.  353 

shalt  not  see  liim  with  inglorious  wounds  repulsed  ;  nor  on  thy 
son,  thus  saved,  shalt  thou,  in  spite  of  paternal  affection,  impre- 
cate an  accursed  death.  Ah  me,  how  glorious  a  protector  thou, 
Ausonia,  and  thou,  lulus,  [in  him]  hast  lost !  ' 

When  he  had  thus  vented  his  grief,  he  orders  them  to  bear 
away  the  woeful  corpse,  and  sends  a  thousand  men,  selected 
from  the  whole  army,  to  accompany  these  last  honors,  and 
bear  a  part  in  the  parent's  tears ;  small  consolation  for  such 
mighty  woe,  but  due  to  the  unhappy  sire  !  others  with  for- 
ward zeal  weave  hurdles,  and  a  pliant  bier  of  arbute  rods  and 
oaken  twigs,  and  with  a  covering  of  boughs  shade  the  bed 
high  raised.  Here  on  the  rural  couch  aloft  they  raise  the 
youth  :  like  a  flower,  either  of  the  tender  violet  or  drooping 
hyacinth,  cropped  by  a  virgin's  hand,2  from  which  not  the  gay 
bloom,  or  its  own  fair  form,  hath  yet  departed ;  the  parent 
soil  no  longer  feeds  it,  or  supplies  it  with  strength.  Then 
two  vests,  stiff  with  embroidery  of  gold  and  purple,  ^Eneas 
brought  forth ;  which  formerly  Sidonian  Dido,  pleased  with 
the  task,  with  her  own  hands  for  him  had  wrought,  and  striped 
the  stuff  with  slender  threads  of  gold.  In  one  of  these,  the 
last  ornament,  he  sorrowful  arrays  the  youth,  and  muffles  up 
ia  a  vail  his  hair  devoted  to  the  flames.  Besides,  he  piles  up 
many  prizes  of  the  Laurentine  war,  and  orders  the  booty  to 
be  led  in  long  procession.  •  He  adds  the  steeds  and  arms 
whereof  he  despoiled  the  foe.  And  fo  their  backs  he  had 
bound  the  hands  of  those  whom  to  his  shade  as  offering  he 
Avould  send,  to  sprinkle  with  their  shed  blood  the  flame ;  and 
the  chiefs  themselves  he  commands  to  bear  trunks  of  trees 
decked  with  hostile  arms,  and  the  names  of  the  enemies  to  be 
inscribed  upon  them.  Unhappy  Acoetes,  worn  out  with  age, 
is  led,  now  with  his  fists  tearing  his  breasts,  now  with  his 
nails  his  face ;  and  bending  forward  with  his  whole  body,  he 
lies  prostrate  on  the  ground.  His  chariots,  too,  they  lead  be- 
smeared with  Rutulian  blood.  Next  his  warrior-horse,  JEthon, 
his  trappings  laid  aside,  moves  o^n  weeping,  and  with  the  big 
drops  bedews  his  cheeks.  Others  bear  his  spear  and  helmet : 
for  of  the  rest  victorious  Turnus  is  possessed.  Then  in 
mournful  plight,  the  phalanx,  the  Trojan  and  the  Tuscan 
leaders  follow,  and  the  Arcadians  with  inverted  arms.  After 

2  Propert.  i.  20,  39,  "  Quse  modo  decerpens  tenero  pueriliter  ungui 
Proposito  florem  prastulit  officio."  B. 


354  ^ENEID.  B.  XL  94—129. 

the  whole  body  of  attendants  had  advanced  before  in  long  pro- 
cession, ^Eneas  paused,  and  with  a  deep  groan  subjoined  these 
words :  "We  to  other  scenes  of  woe,  by  the  same  horrid  fate  of 
war,  are  summoned  hence.  Farewell  forever,  illustrious  Pallas, 
and  adieu  forever.  This  said,  he  bent  his  course  to  the  high 
walls,  and  directed  his  steps  back  to  the  camp. 

And  now  from  the  city  of  king  Latinus  embassadors  came 
bearing  olive-boughs,  supplicating  grace  [from  ^Eneas]  ;  that 
he  would  deliver  to  them  the  bodies  [of  their  dead],  which  by 
the  sword  lay  scattered  over  the  field,  and  permit  them  to  be 
entombed  in  the  earth  ;  [alleging]  that  with  the  vanquished 
and  the  lifeless  war  is  at  an  end  ;  [and  hoping]  that  he  would 
spare  a  people  to  whose  hospitality  and  alliance  he  was  once 
invited. 

Whom,  not  unreasonable  in  their  demands,  the  courteous 
^Eneas  receives  with  grace,  and  adds  these  words  :  What  un- 
deserved fate,  ye  Latins,  hath  involved  you  in  so  disastrous  a 
war,  who  thus  decline  us  yoxir  friends  ?  Is  it  for  the  dead,  and 
the  slain  by  the  chance  of  war,  you  implore  peace  ?  I  truly 
would  grant  it  to  the  living,  too.  I  should  not  have  come 
hither  vnless  the  Fates  had  here  assigned  my  settlement  and 
place  of  residence ;  nor  with  the  [Latin]  nation  wage  I  war. 
With  u>  your  king  renounced  hospitality,  and  rather  trusted 
himse'K  to  the  arms  of  Turnus.  More  just  had  it  been  for 
Turnus  to  expose  himself  to  this  death.  If  to  terminate  the 
war  by  personal  valor,  if  to  expel  the  Trojans,  he  intends,  me 
in  these  arms  he  ought  to  have  encountered :  he  [of  us  two] 
had  lived,  to  whom  God  or  his  own  right  hand  had  given  life. 
Now  go,  and  under  your  unfortunate  countrymen  apply  the 
funeral  fire.  ^Eneas  said.  They  in  silence  stood  astonished, 
and  turning  held  their  eyes  and  faces  to  each  other. 

Then  aged  Drances,3  who  still  by  calumny  and  invectives 
vented  his  animosity  on  young  Turnus,  thus  replies  in  turn : 
Trojan  hero,  mighty  in  fame,  but  mightier  still  in  arms,  by  what 
praises  shall  I  exalt  thee  to  heaven  ?  which  shall  I  most  admire, 
thy  justice  or  thy  achievements  in  war  ?  We  truly  with  grate- 
ful hearts  will  bear  this  answer  back  to  our  city ;  and,  if  any 
fortune  shall  open  the  way,  will  associate  thee  to  king  Latinus : 
let  Turnus  seek  alliances  for  himself.  We  will  even  with 

3  Drances,  a  friend  of  king  Latinus,  remarkable  for  his  eloquence  and 
weakness. 


K.  xr.  130—163.  ^ENEID.  355 

pleasure  rear  up  the  fabric  of  your  destined  walls,  and  on  our 
shoulders  bear  the  stones  of  Troy. 

He  said ;  and  all  with  one  voice  murmured  their  assent. 
They  settled  a  truce  for  twice  six  days :  and  during  the  inter- 
mediate4 peace,  Trojans  and  Latins  promiscuous  without  hos- 
tility ranged  the  woods  along  the  mountains.  Felled  by  the 
two-edged  steel,  the  ash  crashes;  pines  shot  up  to  the  stars 
they  overthrow  ;  they  neither  cease  to  cleave  with  wedges  the 
oaken  planks  and  fragrant  cedar,  nor  to  convey  in  groaning 
wagons  the  mountain-ashes. 

And  now  flying  fame,  the  harbinger  of  so  great  woe,  fills 
Evander  and  Evander's  palace  and  city ;  fame,  which  just  now 
to  Latium  bore  the  news  that  Pallas  was  victorious.  The  Ar- 
cadians rush  to  the  gates,  and,  as  the  ancient  manner  was, 
snatched  up  funeral  torches.  With  a  long  train  of  flames  the 
path  all  shines,  and  far  and  wide  illuminates6  the  fields.  The 
hands  of  Trojans  advancing  opposite  to  them  join  the  lament- 
ing troops ;  whom,  soon  as  the  matrons  beheld  approaching  the 
walls,  they  inflame  the  mourning  city  with  their  shrieks.  But 
no  force  can  restrain  Evander  from  rus?  ing  through  the  midst. 
The  bier -being  laid  down,  on  Pallas  he  falls  prostrate,  and 
with  sobs  and  groans  clings  to  [the  corpse]  ;  and  at  length  with 
much  ado  for  grief  is  a  passage  opened  to  these  words:  These, 
0  Pallas,  are  not  the  promises  thou  gavest  thy  parent,  that 
with  more  caution  thou  wouldst  trust  thyself  to  the  savage 
combat.  I  was  not  ignorant  how  far  rising  glory  in  arms,  and 
the  bewitching  renown  of  the  first  action,  might  carry  you. 
Ah !  fatal  to  the  youth  his  first  essays,  hard  his  probation  in 
early  war !  Alas !  my  vows  and  prayers  by  none  of  the  gods 
regarded  !  Thou  most  holy  partner  of  my  bed,  happy  in  thy 
death,  and  not  to  this  woe  reserved  ;  while  I  by  living  on  have 
overpassed  my  natural  bounds  to  remain  a  childless  father.' 
"When  I  followed  the  confederate  arms  of  Troy,  the  Rutulians 
should  have  overwhelmed  me  with  their  darts  :  my  life  I  had 
resigned,  and  me,  not  Pallas,  this  pomp  had  home  con- 

4  "Media:  namque  sequester  est  aut  medius  inter  duos  altercantes; 
aut  ad  quern  aliquid  ad  tempus  seponitur."    SERVIUS.    B. 

5  Literally,  "renders  distinguishable."    B. 

6  Literally,  "  surviving  [my  own  son]."     This  was  thought  a  severe 
misfortune.     So  Plautus,  "  Ita  ut  tuum  vis  unicum  gnatum  tuae  superesse 
vitse,  sospitem  et  superstitem."    B." 


356  wENEID.  u.  XL  164—197. 

veyed.  Nor  you,  ye  Trojans,  will  I  accuse,  nor  your  alliance, 
nor  those  right  hands  we  joined  in  hospitable  league:  this 
stroke  of  fortune  was  destined  for  my  old  age.  However,  if 
untimely  death  awaited  my  son,  it  will  be  some  satisfaction, 
that  ushering  the  Trojans  into  Latium  he  fell,  having  first 
slain  thousands  of  the  Volscians,  And  now,  with  no  other 
funeral  obsequies,  O  Pallas,  can  I  grace  thee,  than  what  pious 
JEneas,  and  the  noble  Trojans,  the  Tuscan  leaders,  and  whole 
army  of  the  Tuscans,  [have  given  thee].  Thy  illustrious 
trophies  they  bear,  those  whom  to  death  thy  right  hand  offer- 
ed. Thou  too,  O  Turnus,  shouldst  have  stood  [among  them]  a 
huge  trunk  in  arms,  had  my  age  been  equal,  and  my  strength 
from  years  the  same.  But  why  do  I,  hapless  one,  detain  the 
Trojans  from  the  war  J  Go,  and  faithfully  bear  back  these 
mandates  to  your  king  :  If  I  linger  out  a  hated  life,  after  Pal- 
las is  slain,  it  is  in  consequence  of  thy  [avenging]  right  hand  ; 
from  which  you  see  Turnus  is  justly  due  to  a  son  and  sire. 
This  post  [of  honor]  is  alone  reserved  for  thee  and  thy 
fortune.  It  is  not  joy  in  life  I  seek,  nor  is  it  fit  I  should  ; 
but  I  wish  to  bear  the  tidings  to  my  son  down  to  the  shades 
below. 

Meanwhile  to  wretched  mortals  Aurora  had  brought  forth 
the  benignant  light,  renewing  the  works  and  labors  [of  the 
day].1  Now  father  ^Eneas,  now  Tarchon,  on  the  winding 
shore  erected  funeral  piles.  Hither  they  conveyed,  each  after 
the  manner  of  his  ancestors,  the  bodies  of  their  dead  ;  and  the 
sad*  fires  being  applied  under  them,  the  lofty  sky  with  smoke 
is  hidden  in  darkness.  Thrice  round  the  blazing  piles  they 
ran,  clad  in  shining  armor;  thrice  they  encompassed  the 
mournful  funeral  fire  on  horseback,  and  sent  forth  doleful  yells. 
With  their  tears  is  the  earth  bedewed,  bedewed  are  their  arms. 
The  shrieks  of  men  and  clang  of  trumpets  pierce  through  the 
sky.  Next  into  the  fire  some  throw  the  spoils  torn  from  the 
Latins  slain,  helmets,  and  gleaming  swords,  bits,  and  glowing 
wheels :  some,  well-known  gifts,  their  own  bucklers  and  un- 
successful darts.  Many  heads  of  ox^en  all  around  are  offered 

.  7  Cf.    Quintus   Calab.    vi.   4,    rot   &   elf  ipya  rpairovro   ppoTol  peiu. 

<j>6lVvd£VT£f,       B. 

8  Thia  is  the  usual  interpretation  of  "  atris  ignibus,"  but  I  think  it  ia 
far  more  natural  to  understand,  "  dark,  pitchy  flames."  So  Eur.  Troad. 
550,  u6f*oi(  d£  Tra^Kpdff  ae/laf  ttvpdf  /uil.aivav  cu.yl.av  'K6<jKev.  E. 


B.  xi.  198—235.  ^ENEID.  357 

;_••}• 

victims  to  death ;  and  over  the  flames  they  stab  bristly  boars, 
and  sheep  snatched  from  all  the  fields :  then  along  the  whole 
shore  they  view  their  burning  friends,  and  watch  their  half- 
consumed  piles  :  nor  can  they  be  torn  from  them,  before  humid 
night  inverts  the  face  of  heaven,  bespangled  with  shining 
stars. 

Nor  with  less  care  the  sorrowing  Latins  in  a  different  quar- 
ter reared  numberless  piles ;  and  they  partly  bury  in  the  earth 
many  bodies  of  their  heroes,  and  part  carried  off  they  to  the 
neighboring  fields  convey,  and  send  back  to  the  city.  The 
rest,  and  a  vast  heap  of  promiscuous  slaughter,  without  num- 
ber and  without  honor,  they  burn :  then  on  all  sides  the  spa- 
cious fields,  as  rivaling  each  other,  blaze  together  with  frequent 
fires.  The  third  day's  light  had  from  the  sky  removed  the 
chill  shades :  when  in  sadness  they  huddled  together  on  the 
hearths  the  heaped-up  ashes  and  bones  mingled  in  confusion, 
and  loaded  them  with  a  warm  mound  of  earth.  But-  now  in 
the  courts  of  opulent  Latinus,  and  in  the  city,  is  the  chief  up- 
roar, and  by  far  the  deepest  scene  of  mourning.  Here  mothers 
and  hapless  brides,  here  tender-hearted  sisters  in  deep  anguish, 
and  striplings  of  their  sires  bereft,  curse  the  rueful  war,  and 
the  nuptials  of  Turnus ;  and  himself  they  urge  by  arms,  him- 
self by  the  sword,  to  decide  the  quarrel,  since  for  himself  alone 
he  claims  the  crown  of  Italy  and  the  first  honors.  These  the 
malicious  Drances  aggravates,  and  protests  that  Turnus  alone 
is  called,  alone  is  challenged  to  the  combat.  On  the  other  side 
the  votes  of  many,  in  various  speech,  are  given  for  Turnus, 
and  him  the  queen's  illustrious  name  protects;  and  his  own 
distinguished  fame,  for  trophies  justly  won,  supports  the  hero. 

Amid  these  commotions,  in  the  heat  of  this  raging  tumult, 
lo  !  to  complete  the  distress,  the  embassadors,  from  Diomede's 
imperial  city  [returning]  sorrowful,  bring  their  answer ;  that 
nothing  was  effected  by  all  the  expense  of  so  great  labor; 
that  neither  the  gifts,  nor  gold,  nor  importunate  prayers,  had 
aught  availed ;  that  the  Latins  must  have  recourse  to  other 
arms,  or  sue  for  peace  from  the  Trojan  prince.  With  great 
grief  king  Latinus  himself  faints  away.  The  wrath  of  the 
gods,  and  the  recent  tombs  before  his  face,  declare  that 
^Eneas,  the  messenger  of  fate,  is  led  on  by  a  manifest  divine 
impulse. 

Therefore  within  the  lofty  palace  he    assembles  his   great 


358  ^ENEID.  B.  XL  236—266. 

council,  and  the  peers  of  'his  realm,  summoned  by  his  imperial 
order.  They  meet  together,  and  flock  to  the  royal  apartments 
along  the  crowded  ways.  In  the  center,  with  unjoyous  as- 
pect, sits  Latinus,  both  most  advanced  in  age,  and  first  in 
sway.  And  here  he  orders  the  embassadors  now  returned 
from  the  ^Etolian  city,  to  say  what  message  they  bring  back, 
and  demands  each  particular  answer  in  its  order.  Then  si- 
lence sat  on  every  tongue ;  and  Yenulus  thus,  in  obedience  to 
command,  begins :  We  have  seen,  O  citizens,  Diomede  and 
the  Argive  camp,  and  measuring  a  length  of  way,  have  over- 
passed a  thousand  dangers,  and  touched  that  hand  by  which 
Troy's  kingdom  fell.  He  victorious  was  raising  in  the  plains 
of  Apulian  Garganus'  the  city  Argyripa,10  from  the  name  of 
his  native  country.  After  we  were  admitted,  and  had  per- 
mission given  to  speak  in  the  presence,  we  first  present  our 
gifts ;  declare  our  name  and  country ;  who  made  war  upon 
us;  what  errand  drew  us  to  Arpi.  Our  message  heard,  he 
thus  with  mild  accent  replied :  O  happy  nations,  once  Saturn's 
realm,  ancient  Ausonians,  what  fortune  disturbs  you  peaceful, 
and  prompts  you  to  rouse  unusual  wars  ?  As  many  of  us  as 
with  the  sword  violated  the  lands  of  Hium  (I  wave  those  ex- 
tremities which  in  fighting  under  its  lofty  walls  we  sustained, 
what  illustrious  heroes  that  Simois  of  theirs  swept  away),  have 
borne  unutterable  sufferings  over  the  world,  and  all  punish- 
ments for  our  crime ;  a  band  whom  even  Priam  would  pity. 
Minerva's  disastrous  constellation  knows,  and  the  Euboean 
rocks,  and  vengeful  Caphareus.11  Ever  since  that  expedition, 
have  we  on  different  coasts  been  driven ;  Menelaus,  the  son 
of  Atreus,  is  exiled  as  far  as  the  pillars  of  Proteus  ;12  Ulysses 
hath  seen  the  Cyclops  of  ^Etna.  Shall  I  mention  [the  tragic 
fate  of]  Neoptolemus'  realms,  and  the  overthrow  of  Idomeneus' 
settlement,  or  the  [dispersion  of  the]  Locri  who  inhabit  Lib- 
ya's coast  ?  The  prince  of  Mycenae"  himself,  the  leader  of 

9  Garganus  (St  Angelo),  a  lofty  mountain  of  Apulia,  projecting  in  the 
form  of  a  promontory  into  the  Adriatic  Sea. 

10  Argyripa,  or  Arpi. 

11  Caphareus  (Cape  D'Oro).  a  lofty  promontory  on  the  south-east  coast 
of  Euboea,  an  island  in  the  JEgeaa  Sea. 

18  Proteus,  a  king  of  Egypt,  on  whose  coasts  Menelaus,  in  his  return 
from  the  Trojan  war,  was  forced  by  stress  of  weather. 

13  Prince  of  Mycenae,  Agamemnon,  who  was  chosen  chief  commander 
of  the  Grecian  forces  in  the  war 'against  Troy.  After  the  destruction  of 


B.  xi.  26t— 299.  2ENEID.  359 

the  illustrious  Greeks,  fell  by  the  hand  of  his  unnatural14 
spouse,  in  the  first  entrance  to  his  palace ;  and  his  adulterous 
assassin  by  traitorous  means  lay  in  wait  for  the  conqueror  of 
Asia.15  [Or  shall  I  mention]  how  the  envious  gods  forbade 
that  I  myself,  restored  to  my  native  country,  should  see  my 
much-loved  spouse,  and  lovely  Caiydon  ?  Even  now  prodigies 
of  horrid  aspect  pursue  me  ;  my  lost  associates,  into  the  aerial 
regions  have  winged  their  way,  and,  to  birds  transformed, 
wander  along  the  rivers  (ah,  dire  vengeance  on  my  friends !) 
and  fill  the  rocks  with  doleful  notes.  And  indeed  I  had  rea- 
son to  expect  these  calamities  ever  since  that  time,  when  with 
the  sword  I  madly  assaulted  the  celestial  beings,  and  violated 
the  hand  of  Venus  with  a  wound.  But  urge  me  not,  urge  not 
me  to  fights  like  these :  neither  with  the  Trojans  wage  I  any 
war,  now  that  Troy  is  overthrown ;  nor  remember  I  with  joy 
their  former  woes.  Those  gifts,  which  to  me  you  brought 
from  your  native  coasts,  transfer  to  ^Eneas.  We  against  his 
keen  darts  have  stood,  and  engaged  him  hand  to  hand ;  trust 
me,  who  by  experience  know  how  stern  he  rises  to  his  shield, 
with  what  a  whirl1'  he  throws  his  lance.  Had  Ida's  land 
produced  two  such  heroes  more,  the  Trojans  had  first  ad-, 
vanced  to  the  cities  of  Inachus,  and  Greece  by  a  reverse  of 
fate  would  have  mourned.  Whatever  obstruction  was  given 
at  the  walls  of  stubborn  Troy,  the  victory  of  the  Greeks  was 
suspended  by  the  hand  of  Hector  arid  JEneas,  and  was  re- 
tarded till  the  tenth  year.  Both  for  valor  are  distinguished, 
both  for  noble  feats  of  arms ;  this  man  in  piety  excels.  Let 
your  right  hands  be  joined  in  league,  by  whatever  means  it  is 
permitted ;  but  beware  of  opposing  arms  to  arms.  Thus,  best, 
of  kings,  you  have  at  once  both  heard  his  answer,  and  his  res- 
olution on  this  important  war.  Scarcely  had  the  deputies 
spoken,  when  through  Ausonia's  troubled  sons  a  various  noise 
ran ;  as,  when  rocks  retard  a  river's  rapid  course,  from  the 
pent-up  flood  a  murmur  arises,  and  with  the  beating  waves 
the  neighboring  banks  resound. 

that  city,  Agamemnon  returned  to  Argos,  where  he  was  murdered  by  his 
wife  Clytemnestra  and  her  paramour  JSgisthus. 

14  For  "infandse,"  Macrobius,  Sat  iv.  4,  reads  "infanduml"  which  is 
approved  by  Burmann  on  Anthol.  Lat.  T.  i.  p.  196.  B. 

13  See  Anthon.     The  readings  vary,  since  the  time  of  Servius.     B. 

16  So  "ballistae  turbine,"  Lucan.  iii.  465;  "directo  turbine  robur,'1 
Silius  iv.  542.  B. 


360  -<ENEID.      .  B.2X  300— 335 

Soon  as  their  minds  were  calmed,  and  their  tumultuous 
tongues  were  hushed,  the  king,  having  first  addressed  the 
gods,  from  his  lofty  throne  begins :  I  indeed  could  wish,  ye 
Latins,  and  it  had  been  better,  that  we  had  before  determined 
on  the  common  cause,  and  not  to  call  a  council  at  such  a  junc- 
ture,17 when  the  foe  lays  siege  to  our  walls.  Incommodious 
war,  O  citizens,  we  wage  with  a  nation  of  gods  and  heroes  in- 
vincible, whom  no  battles  tire  out,  and  who,  when  vanquished, 
can  not  lay  down  the  sword.  What  hope  you  entertained  from 
the  invited  arms  of  the  ^Etolians,  now  dismiss.:  each  must  be 
his  own  hope :  but  how  feeble  this  is,  you  see.  In  what  ruin 
the  rest  of  our  affairs  are  involved,  all  is  by  yourselves  both 
seen  and  felt.  Nor  yet  accuse  I  any :  what  the  highest  pitch 
of  valor  could,  has  been  achieved  ;  with  the  whole  strength 
of  the  realm  we  have  struggled.  Now  then  (lend  your  atten- 
tion), I  will  unfold,  and  briefly  show  what  purpose  rises  in  my 
doubtful  soul.  To  me  an  ancient  tract  of  land  belongs,  near 
the  Tuscan  river,  in  length  extended  to  the  west,  even  beyond 
Sicania's18  bounds :  the  Auruncians  and  Rutulians  sow,  and 
harass  with  the  share  the  stubborn  hills,  and  turn  to  pasture 
their  most  rugged  parts.  Let  this  whole  region,  and  the  lofty 
mountain's  piny  tracts,  be  given  away  to  the  friendship  of  the 
Trojans ;  and  let  us  pronounce  equal  terms  of  peace,  and,  as 
our  allies,  invite  them  into  our  realms.  Let  them  settle,  if 
they  have  such  strong  desire,  and  build  cities.  But  if  they 
have  a  mind  to  take  possession  of  other  territories  and  another 
country,  and  if  from  our  land  they  can  withdraw,  let  us  build 
twice  ten  ships  of  Italian  timber,  or  more,  if  they  are  able  to 
man  them :  all  the  materials  lie  along  the  river ;  let  them- 
selves order  the  number  and  fashion  of  .  the  vessels ;  let  us 
with  money,  men,  and  naval  stores  supply  them.  Besides, 
our  pleasure  is,  that  a  hundred  embassadors  of  the  first  rank 
from  Latium  go  to  bear  our  instructions,  and  confirm  the  al- 
liance, and  in  their  hands  extend  the  boughs  of  peace,  bearing 
presents  of  ivory,  and  sums  of  gold,  a  chair  of  state,  and  royal 
robe,  the  ensigns  of  our  crown.  Advise  for  the  common 
good,"  and  relieve  a  distressed  state. 

'7  This  is  the  proper  meaning.     See  Drakenb.  on  SiL  viii.  112.    B. 

18  Sicania,  an  ancient  name  of  Sicily,  which  it  received  from  the  Si- 
cani,  a  people  of  Spain  who  first  passed  into  Italy,  and  afterward  into 
Sicily,  where  they  established  themselves. 

19  So  "  in  commune"  is  used,  as  in  Tacit.  Agr.  §  12.  Sueton.  Ner.  §  15.  B. 


B.  XL  336—369.  .<ENErD.  361 

Then  the  same  hostile  Drances  rises  (whom  the  glory  of 
Turnus  inflamed  with  oblique  envy80  and  malignant  stings ; 
abounding  in  wealth,  and  more  in  tongue,  but  a  cold  champion 
in  war,  yet  deemed  of  no  mean  authority  in  consultations ;  in 
faction  powerful ;  him  his  mother's  quality  inspired  with  the 
pride  of  noble  blood,  but  by  the  father's  side  he  was  of  birth 
obscure),21  and  loads  Turnus  with  these  invectives,  and  aggra- 
vates animosity :  Gracious  sovereign,  you  ask  counsel  in  an 
affair  which  to  none  is  obscure,  nor  requires  our  debate.  All 
must  own  that  they  well  know  what  the  weal  of  the  nation 
demands ;  but  they  hesitate  to  speak  their  mind.  Let  him 
allow  that  freedom  of  speech,  and  moderate  his  vaunts,  for 
whose  inauspicious  influence  and  perverse  conduct  (for  my 
part  I  will  speak  out,  even  though  he  should  threaten  me  with 
hostility  and  death)  we  have  seen  so  many  illustrious  chiefs 
perish,  and  the  whole  city  sit  in  mourning ;  while  he  tempts 
the  Trojan  camp  trusting  to  flight,  and  defies  heaven  with  his 
arm.  To  those  numerous  gifts  which  you  order  to  be  sent  and 
delivered  to  the  Trojans,  this  one,  this  one  more,  O  best  of 
sovereigns,  add ;  nor  let  any  one's  violent  remonstrances  deter 
thee  from  giving  away  your  daughter,  by  a  father's  right,  to 
an  illustrious  son-in-law  (a  worthy  match),  and  from  confirm- 
ing this  peace  by  a  perpetual  alliance.  And  if  such  dread  [of 
Turnus]  haunts  our  minds  and  souls,  him  let  us  implore,  and 
from  him  sue  for  grace  ;  that  to  his  sovereign  he  may  resign, 
and  to  his  country  give  up  his  proper  right.  Why  dost  thou 
so  often  expose  thy  wretched  citizens  to  open  dangers  ?  O 
thou,  the  source  and  origin  of  these  ills  to  Latium  !  no  safety 
[is  for  us]  in  war :  to  thee,  O  Turnus,  we  all  sue  for  peace, 
at  the  same  time  for  the  sole  inviolable  pledge  of  peace.22  I 
the  first  (whom  as  your  malicious  foe  you  image  to  yourself, 
nor  am  I  concerned  to  disprove  the  charge),  lo !  I  come  thy 
suppliant :  have  pity  on  thine  own ;  lay  aside  thy  fierceness, 
and  baffled  quit  the  field.  Full  many  deaths  have  we  with 
loss  of  victory  seen,  and  brought  the  extended  fields  to  desola- 
tion. Or,  if  fame  have  influence,  if  in  your  breast  such  forti- 
tude you  lodge,  and  if  your  heart  be  so  much  set  on  a  palace 

20  "  Qui  non  ex  aperto  impugnabat  Turnum ;    Bed  eum  reipublicae 
aimulata  defensione  lacerabat."     SERVIUS.    B. 

21  Literally,  "  he  bore  [himself]  uncertain  on  the  father's  side."     B. 

22  f. «.  Lavinia.     B. 


362  -iENEID.  B.  XI.  370 — 407. 

for  your  dowry ;  dare  it,  and  bravely  expose  your  breast  ad- 
verse to  the  foe.  Forsooth,  that  Turnus  may  be  blessed  with  a 
royal  consort,  we,  abject  souls,  may  be  strewn  on  the  field,  an 
unburied  and  unwept  throng.  And  now,  if  you  have  any 
spirit,  if  you  have  aught  of  your  country's  Mars,  look  him  in 
the  face  who  gives  you  the  challenge.  With  these  invectives 
the  fierce  mind  of  Turnus  was  inflamed :  he  groans,  and  from 
the  bottom  of  his  breast  forces  out  these  accents :  Drances,  I 
own  you  have  always  a  rich  profusion  of  words  at  the  time 
when  wars  call  for  action ;  and  when  the  fathers  are  convened 
you  are  there  the  foremost ;  but  this  is  not  a  time  to  fill  the 
court  with  words  which  fly  in  big  torrents  from  thee  in  safety, 
while  the  bulwarks  of  our  walls  keep  off  the  foe,  and  the 
trenches  float  not  with  blood.  Wherefore  thunder  on  in  noisy 
eloquence,  as  thou  art  wont,  and  arraign  me  of  cowardice, 
thou  [the  valiant]  Drances,  since  thy  right  hand  hath  raised 
so  many  heaps  of  slaughtered  Trojans,  and  every  where  thou 
deckest  the  fields  with  trophies.  You  may,  however,  put  that 
animated  valor  of  yours  to  the  proof ;  for  not  far  have  we  to 
seek  our  foes ;  they  all  around  beset  our  walls.  March  we 
against  the  adversary  ?  why  do  you  demur  ?  will  your  prowess 
always  lie  in  your  blustering  tongue,  and  in  those  feet  only 
swift  to  fly  ?  Am  I  routed  ?  or  will  any  one,  thou  most  abject 
wretch,  justly  tax  me  with  being  routed,  who  shall  view  the 
swollen  Tiber  rise  with  Trojan  blood,  and  Evander's  whole 
family  with  his  race  stretched  on  the  ground,  and  the  Arca- 
dians stripped  of  their  armor  ?  Not  so  Bitias  and  bulky 
Pandarus  me  proved,  nor  those  thousands  whom,  in  one  day, 
I  victorious  sent  down  to  Tartarus,  inclosed  within  the  walls, 
and  shut  up  by  the  rampart  of  the  foe.  No  safety,  [you  say,] 
is  in  war.  Go,  madman,  vent  such  language  to  the  Dardanian 
chief,  and  thy  own  party.  Wherefore  cease  not  to  embroil 
all  with  dreadful  alarms,  to  extol  the  strength  of  the  twice 
vanquished  race,  and  on  the  other  hand  to  depress  the  arms 
of  Latinus.  Now  the  Myrmidonian"  chiefs  tremble  at  the 
Phrygian  arms !  now  Diomede  and  Larissaean  Achilles !  and 
the  river  Aufidus54  flies  back  from  the  Adriatic  waves ;  even 
when  the  wicked  dissembler  feigns  himself  under  terror  of 

23  All  this  is  spoken  ironically.     B. 

24  Aufidus  (Ofanto),  a  river  of  Apulia  in  Italy,  falling  into  the  Adriatic. 
The  battle  of  Cannse  was  fought  on  the  banks  of  the  Aufidus. 


B.  xi.  407 — 441.  JENEID.  363 

my  menaces,  and  by  his  own  fear  aggravates  the  charge  against 
me.  Cease  from  being  disturbed ;  never  shalt  thou  lose  such 
a  soul  as  thine  by  this  right  hand  :  let  it  dwell  with  thee,  and 
rest  in  that  ignoble  breast.  Now  I  return  to  thee,  sire,  and 
to  thy  important  debates.  If  in  our  arms  you  repose  no  further 
confidence  ;  if  we  are  so  desolate,  and  utterly  undone  by  our 
army  being  once  defeated,  and  our  fortune  is  capable  of  no 
redress ;  let  us  sue  for  peace  and  let  us  extend  our  hands  un- 
armed. Yet  oh  !  did  any  of  our  wonted  worth  remain,  that 
man  were  happy  in  my  judgment  beyond  all  others,  in  his 
toils,  and  heroic  ia  soul,  who,  that  he  might  not  see  aught  like 
this,  fell  once  for  all,  and  dying  bit  the  ground.  But  if  we 
both  have  resources,  and  youthful  troops  still  fresh,  and  Italian 
cities  and  nations  left  to  our  aid  ;  if  the  Trojans  purchase  their 
honor  with  much  blood  ;  if  they  too  have  their  funerals,  and 
the  storm  [of  war  has  raged]  through  all  with  equal  fury ; 
why  faint  we  dishonorably  in  the  first  entrance  [to  the 
war]  ?  why  does  trembling  seize  our  limbs,  before  the  trumpet 
[sounds]  ?  Length  of  days  and  the  various  labor  of  change^ 
ful  time,  have  reduced  many  things  to  a  better  state :  fortune, 
that  visits  alternately  [with  good  and  ill],  hath  baffled  many, 
and  again  placed  them  on  a  firm  basis.  The  ^Etolian  prince, 
[it  seems,]  and  Arpi,  will  not  support  us ;  but  Messapus  will, 
and  the  fortunate  Tolumnius,86  and  those  leaders  whom  so 
many  nations  have  sent :  nor  shall  small  glory  attend  the  se- 
lect troops  from  Latium  and  the  Laurentine  fields.  With  us 
too  is  Camilla,"  of  the  illustrious  race  of  the  Volscians,  who 
leads  a  squadron  of  horse,  and  troops  gayly  glittering  with 
brass.  But  if  the  Trojans  demand  me  alone  to  the  fight,  and 
if  this  be  your  pleasure,  and  I  so  much  obstruct  your  com- 
mon good  ;  victory  has  not  hitherto  with  so  much  hate  aban- 
doned my  right  hand,  as  for  me  to  decline  any  enterprise  for 
so  glorious  a  prospect.  I  will  advance  against  [^Eneas]  with 
confidence,  though  he  should  even  approve  himself  a  great 
Achilles,  and  sheathe  himself  in  similar  armor  forged  by 
Vulcan's  hands.  To  you,  and  to  Latinus,  my  [promised] 
father-in-law,  I  Turnus,  not  inferior  in  va'yr  to  any  of  the 

25  Tolumnius,  an  augur  in  the  army  of  Turnus  against  JEneas,  who 
violated  the  league  between  the  Rutulians  and  Trojans,  and  was  after- 
ward slain. 

as  Camilla,  the  virago  female  warrior. 


364  ^BNEID.  B.  XI.  442—474. 

ancient  heroes,  have  this  life  devoted.  Does  ^Eneas  challenge 
me  alone  ?  Heaven  grant  he  may.  Nor  let  Drances  rather, 
if  either  this  be  the  angry  resolve  of  the  gods,  by  death  make 
the  atonement ;  or,  if  an  opportunity  of  glory  and  valor,  let 
him  bear  away  [the  prize]. 

'They  in  mutual  contention  were  debating  on  the  perplexed 
state  of  their  affairs,  JEneas  was  advancing  his  camp  and  army 
[toward  the  city  of  Laurentum].  Lo,  in  great  hurry,  a  mes- 
senger rushes  through  the  court,  and  fills  the  city  with  dread- 
ful alarms;  that,  from  the  Tiber's  stream,  the  Trojans,  ar- 
ranged in  battle  array,  and  the  Tuscan  host,  were  marching 
down  over  all  the  plains.  Forthwith  their  minds  were  seized 
with  perturbation,  the  hearts  of  the  populace  are  stunned,  and 
their  rage  with  keen  impulse  is  roused.  In  hurry  they  call 
for  arms  in  hand ;  for  arms  the  storming  youth  exclaim :  the 
fathers  in  sadness  mourn  and  repine  in  low  accents."  Here, 
from  every  quarter,  the  loud  clamor  ascends  with  various 
discordant  notes  to  the  skies :  just  as  when  by  chance  in  some 
tall  grove  flocks  of  birds  alight,  or  in  PadusaV  fishy  streams, 
hoarse  swans  raise  a  clattering  din  through  the  loquacious 
floods.  Citizens,  says  Turnus,  seizing  the  opportunity,  con- 
vene your  council,  and  seated  harangue  in  praise  of  peace, 
while  they  rush  into  our  kingdom  in  arms.  This  said,  he 
instantly  put  himself  in  motion,  and  quick  from  the  lofty  hall 
withdrew.  You,  Volusus,  he  says,  command  to  arms  the 
Volscian  troops,  and  lead  on  the  Rutulians ;  ye,  Messapus,  and 
Coras59  with  your  brother,  pour  abroad  the  armed  horsemen 
over  the  extended  plains ;  let  some  secure  .the  passes  to  the 
city,  and  man  the  towers  ;  the  rest  employ  their  arms  with  me 
where  I  shall  command.  Instant  to  the  walls  they  flock  from 
all  quarters  of  the  town.  The  sire,  Latinus  himself,  quits  the 
council  and  his  great  designs  [of  peace],  and  distracted  with 
the  dismal  conjuncture,  adjourns ;  himself  he  much  accuses, 
that  he  had  not  directly  received  the  Trojan  hero,  and  to  the 
city  admitted  him  as  his  son-in-law.  Others  dig  trenches 
before  the  gates,  or  heave  up  to  them  rocks  and  palisades; 
the  hoarse  trumpet  sounds  the  bloody  signal  for  the  war: 

27  This  is  the  proper  force  of  "  mussant."    B. 

23  Padusa,  the  most  southern  mouth  of  the  Po,  from  which  there  was 
a  cut  to  the  town  of  Ravenna. 

29  Coras,  a  brother  of  Catillus  and  Tiburtus,  who  fought  against  JSneas. 


B.  XL  475—516.  JENE1D.  365 

then  in  various  circling  bands,  matrons  and  boys  crowned  the 
ramparts  :  the  -extremity  of  distress  calls  every  one.  Meanwhile 
the  queen,  with  a  great  retinue  of  matrons,  is  borne  aloft  to  the 
temple  and  high  towers  of  Pallas,  carrying  offerings ;  and  by 
her  side  attends  the  virgin  Lavinia,  the  cause  of  so  great  woe, 
fixing  on  the  ground  her  beauteous  eyes.  The  matrons  follow, 
and  with  incense  fume  the  temple,  and  from  the  lofty  threshold 
pour  forth  their  doleful  prayers :  Patroness  of  war,  powerful  in 
arms,  Tritonian  virgin,  crush  with  thine  arm  the  Phrygian 
pirate's  lance,  and  stretch  himself  prostrate  on  the  ground,  and 
overthrow  him  under  our  lofty  gates. 

Turnus  himself,  with  emulous  ardor  raging,  is  armed  for 
battle  ;  and  now,  clad  in  his  Rutulian  corselet,  was  rough  with 
brazen  scales,  and  had  sheathed  his  legs  in  gold,  his  temples 
yet  naked ;  to  his  side  he  had  buckled  on  his  sword,  and  from 
the  high  fort  speeding  his  way  shone  all  in  gold ;  with  spirit 
he  exults,  and  already  in  hope  anticipates  the  foe :  as  when 
the  courser,  having  burst  his  bonds,  flies  from  the  stall,  at 
length  at  liberty,  and  possessed  of  the  open  plain ;  either  to 
the  pastures  and  herds  of  mares  he  bends  his  way,  or  accus- 
tomed to  be  laved  in  the  well-known  flood,  springs  forth,  and 
rearing  up  his  crest  on  high,  neighs  with  wanton  pride ;  and 
his  mane  plays  on  his  neck  and  shoulders.  Whom  full  in  the 
face,  Camilla,  attended  by  her  Volscian  squadron,  meets,  and 
under  the- very  gates  the  queen  leaps  down  from  her  horse; 
after  whose  example  the  whole  troop,  quitting  their  steeds,  slid 
down  to  earth.  Then  thus  she  speaks :  Turnus,  if  justly  in 
themselves  the  brave  may  aught  confide,  I  dare,  and  promise 
to  stand  the  shock  of  the  Trojan  host,  and  singly  to  make  head 
against  the  Tuscan  horse.  Suffer  me  with  this  arm  to  tempt 
the  first  dangers  of  the  war :  near  the  walls  stay  you  behind 
on  foot,  and  guard  the  city.  To  this  Turnus,  with  eyes  fixed 
on  the  formidable  maiden,  [replies]  :  O  heroine,  glory  of  Italy, 
what  thanks  can  I  prepare  to  express,  or  what  return  can  I 
make  to  thee  ?  But  now  since  that  soul  of  thine  is  superior 
to  all  things,  share  with  me  the  toil.  JEneas,  as  fame  and  the 
scouts  we  sent  bring  sifre  advice,  with  wicked  purpose  hath 
sent  on  light-armed  horse  to  scour  the  plains  :  himself  along 
the  desert  height  of  the  mountains,  hastening  down  its  brow, 
marches  against  the  city.  A  stratagem  of  war  I  devise,  in  a 
winding  -path  of  the  wood  to  beset  the  twofold  defile  with  an 


366  uENEID.  B.  XL  517—552. 

armed  band.  Do  you  in  close  fight  engage  the  Tuscan  horse. 
The  brave  Messapus  will  be  with  you,  and  the  Latin  troops,  and 
the  Tiburtine  band :  and  do  thou  also  assume  the  general's 
charge.  He  said,  and  in  like  terms  animates  Messapus  and  the 
confederate  chiefs  to  the  fight,  and  marches  on  against  the  foe. 
In  a  mazy  winding  tract  a  valley  lies,  commodious  for  ambush 
and  the  wiles  of  war ;  which  a  gloomy  flank  of  wood  incloses 
with  thick  boughs  :  whither  leads  a  scanty  path,  narrow  defiles 
and  malignant  passes  guide.  Over  this,  in  the  mountain's 
heights  and  lofty  summit,  lie  a  concealed  plain  and  safe  retreats ; 
whether  from  right  or  left  you  wish  to  attack  an  enemy,  or 
from  the  ridge  to  harass  him,  and  tumble  on  him  ponderous 
rocks.  Hither  young  Turnus  repairs  along  the  path's  well- 
known  track ;  he  with  expedition  seized  the  post,  and  in  the 
dangerous  thickets  insidiously  lay. 

Meanwhile  Diana  in  the  superior  mansions  addressed  swift 
Opis,30  one  of  her  virgin  train  and  sacred  retinue,  and  with  sad 
accent  pronounced  these  words :  O  nymph,  Camilla  to  cruel 
war  sets  out,  and  is  with  our  arms  in  vain  arrayed,  she  who 
is  dear  to  me  above  her  fellows :  nor  is  this  a  new  passion 
that  rises  in  Diana,  and  with  a  sudden  fondness  moves  my 
soul.  When  Metabus,31  expelled  from  his  kingdom  for  in- 
vidious measures,  and  insolent  abuse  of  power,  quitted  his 
ancient  city  Privernum,  flying  amid  the  contests  of  war,  he 
carried  off  the  infant  his  companion  in  exile,  aud-from  her 
mother's  name  Casmilla,  with  small  variation,  called  her  Ca- 
milla. He,  in  his  bosom  bearing  her  before  him,  to  the  re- 
mote mountains  and  solitary  groves  took  his  way  ;  cruel  darts 
pursued  him  on  all  sides,  and  the  Volscians  hovered  about 
with  troops  around  him  spread.  Lo,  in  the  midst  of  his 
flight,  Amasenus  overflowing  foamed  over  his  highest  banks ; 
such  a  torrent  of  -rain  had  burst  from  the  clouds :  he,  pre- 
paring to  swim,  is  retarded  by  his  tenderness  for  the  child, 
and  fears  for  his  darling  charge.  'As  he  was  pondering  every 
expedient  within  himself,  suddenly  this  resolution  with  re- 
luctance settled  [in  his  breast].  An  enormous  javelin,  which 
in  his  strong  hand  the  warrior  charfted  to  wield,  solid  with 

30  Opis,  a  nymph  among  Diana's  attendants,  \rho  avenged  the  death 
of  Camilla  by  shooting  Arus,  by  whose  hand  the  queen  had  fallen. 

31  Metabus,  king  of  Privernum,  a  city  of  the  Yolsci  in  Latium,  and 
father  of  Camilla. 


B.  xi.  553—593.  ^ENEID.  367 

knots  and  well-seasoned  oak;  to  this  he  fastens  the  babe 
wrapped  up  in  bark  and  sylvan  cork,  and  with  dexterity  binds 
her  about  the  middle  of  the  dart ;  which  poising  in  his  vast 
hand,  he  thus  addresses  himself  to  heaven :  To  thee,  virgin 
daughter  of  Latona,  auspicious  inmate  of  the  woods,  this  child 
thy  handmaid,  I  in  a  father's  right  devote :  wielding  thy 
weapons  first  she  flies  through  the  air,  thy  suppliant,  from  the 
foe  :  Oh  goddess,  I  implore  thee,  receive  thy  own,  who  now  is 
committed  to  the  uncertain  winds.  He  said,  and  with  inbent 
arm  flung  the  whirled  lance ;  the  waves  resound ;  over  the 
rapid  stream  ill-fated  Camilla  on  the  whizzing  javelin  flies. 
But  Metabus,  a  numerous  troop  now  pursuing  him  more 
closely,  flings  himselt  into  the  flood,  and,  master  of  his  wish, 
plucks  from  the  grassy  turf  the  spear,  with  the  virgin,  Diana's 
gift.  Him  no  cities,  houses,  or  walls  received ;  nor,  by  reason 
of  his  savage  nature,  would  he  have  condescended  [so  to  live]  : 
but  in  the  lonely  mountains  he  led  a  shepherd's  life.  There 
among  the  brakes  and  horrid  lairs,  he  nurtured  his  child  from 
the  dugs  of  a  brood-mare,  and  with  animal  milk,  milking  the 
teats  into  her  tender  lips.  And  soon  as  the  infant  with  the 
first  prints  of  her  feet  had  marked  the  ground,  he  loaded  her 
hands  with  the  pointed  javelin,  and  from  the  shoulders  of  the 
little  girl  hung  a  bow  and  arrows.  Instead  of  ornaments  of 
gold  for  the  hair,  instead  of  being  arrayed  in  a  long  trailing 
robe,  a  tiger's  hide  hangs  over  her  back  down  from  her  head. 
Even  then  with  tender  hand  she  flung  childish  darts,  and 
whirled  round  her  head  a  smooth-thonged  sling,  and  struck 
down  a  Strymonian  crane  or  white  swan.  Many  matrons 
through  the  Tuscan  towns  in  vain  wished  her  for  their 
daughter-in-law.  She  with  Diana  alone  content,  a  spotless 
maid,  cherishes  the  perpetual  love  of  darts  and  virginity. 
Would  she  had  never  been  in  love  with  war  like  this,  nor  at- 
tempted to  assault  the  Trojans  !  My  favorite,  and  one  of  my 
retinue,  she  might  now  have  been.  But  come,  O  nymph, 
since  it  is  so  determined  by  cruel  fates,  glide  down  from  the 
sky,  and  visit  the  Latin  coast,  where  with  inauspicious  omens 
the  woeful  fight  is  ushered  in.  Take  these  [weapons],  and 
from  thy  quiver  draw  forth  a  vengeful  arrow :  by  this,  who- 
ever with  a  wound  shall  violate  her  sacred  body,  whether 
Trojan  or  Italian,  let  him  to  me  without  distinction  pay  the 
forfeit  with  his  blood.  Then  in  a  hollow  cloud  will  I  into  a 


368  ^EXEID.  B.  XL  594—630. 

tomb  convey  the  corpse,  and  uncaptured  arms  of  my  lamented 
maid,  and  restore  her  to  her  native  land.  She  said :  but  Opis, 
shooting  down  through  the  light  airy  regions  of  the  sky,  rattled 
along,  her  body  wrapped  around  in  a  black  whirlwind. 

But  the  Trojan  host  meanwhile  approach  the  walls,  and  the 
Tuscan  chiefs  and  the  whole  army  of  horsemen  in  order  were 
ranged  in  troops.  The  prancing  courser  neighs  aloud  over 
all  the  plain,  and  battles  with  the  tightened  reins,  this  way  and 
that  way  wheeling  about :  then  far  and  wide  an  iron  field  of 
spears  bristles  to  the  view,  and  the  plains  shoot-  a  fiery  glare 
with  arms  raised  aloft.  Again  on  the  other  side  opposed  to 
these  appear  in  the  field  Messapus,  and  the  swift  Latins,  and 
Coras  with  his  brother,  and  virgin  Camilla's  wing :  and  with 
right  hands  drawn  back  stretch  forth  their  spears  far  before 
them,  and  brandish  their  darts :  the  advance  of  the  heroes  and 
neighing  of  the  steeds  appear  more  and  more  fierce.  And 
now  each  army,  advancing  within  a  javelin's  throw,  make  a 
halt:  with  a  sudden  shout  they  spring  forth,  and  cheer  on 
their  sprightly  steeds :  at  once  from  all  quarters  they  pour 
thick  showers  of  darts,  like  snow,  and  with  their  shade  the 
face  of  heaven  is  screened.  Forthwith  Tyrrhenus  and  fierce 
Aconteus,  exerting  their  whole  force,  rush  on  eaoli  other 
with  lance  to  lance  opposed,  and  first  with  mighty  noise  give 
the  first  shock,  and  with  violent  contact  dash  their  horses' 
breasts  against  each  other.  Aconteus,  tossed  [from  his  steed] 
after  the  manner  of  a  thunderbolt,  or  weight  shot  from  an 
engine,  is  flung  headlong  to  a  distance,  and  disperses  his 
life  in  air.  Instantly  the  lines  are  thrown  into  disorder ;  and 
the  Latins  put  to  flight,  cast  their  shields  behind,  and  turn  the 
horses  to  the  city.  The  Trojans  pursue :  Asylas  chief  leads 
on  the  troops.  And  now  they  approached  the  gates :  when 
the  Latins  again  raise  a  shout,  and  wheel  about  the  pliant 
necks  [of  their  steeds] ;  the  others  fly,  and,  giving  their  horses 
full  reins,  retreat :  as  when  the  sea  rolling  with  alternate 
tides  now  rushes  on  the  land,  and  foaming  throws  over  the 
rocks  its  waves,  and  with  its  skirts  overflows  the  extremity  of 
the  strand :  now  back  with  rapid  motion,  and  sucking  in 
again  the  stones  rolled  backward  with  the  tide,  it  retreats, 
and  with  the  ebbing  current  leaves  the  shore.  Twice  the 
Tuscans  drove  the  flying  Rutulians  to  their  walls :  twice  the 
repulsed  [Rutulians]  face  about  on  their  foes,  who,  with  their 


B.  XL  630—665.  ^ENEID.  369 

targets  defend  their  backs.  But,  after  joining  battle  the  third 
time,  they  mingled  their  whole  armies  in  close  fight,  and  man 
singles  out  his  man ;  then  are  dying  groans ;  and  arms,  and 
bodies,  and  expiring  steeds,  mingled  with  slaughtered  heaps 
of  men,  roll  in  deep  blood  :  a  furious  combat  ensues.  Orsilo- 
chus  against  the  horse  of  Remulus,  when  he  dreaded  to  en- 
counter the  rider  himself,  hurled  a  lance,  and  left  the  steel 
beneath  his  ear :  with  which  blow  the  courser  rages  bounding 
high,  and,  impatient  of  the  wound,  tosses  his  legs  aloft,  rear- 
ing up  his  breast.  His  lord  dismounted,  falls  to  the  ground. 
Catillus  overthrows  lolas,  and  Herminius,  formidable  for 
courage,  for  size,  and  arms;  whose  yellow  locks  [waved]  on 
his  bare  head,  and  whose  shoulders  were  also  uncovered. 
Wounds  dismay  him  not :  so  mighty  he  stands  to  arms  op^ 
posed.  The  spear,  driven  through  his  broad  shoulders,  trem-. 
bles,  and,  transfixing  the  warrior,  doubles  him  down  with 
pain.  Black  gore  is  poured  forth  all  around :  vying  with  each 
other,  they  deal  destruction  with  the  sword,  and  by  wounds 
seek  glorious  death.  But  amid  heaps  of  slain  the  Amazon 
Camilla,  armed  with  a  quiver,  proudly  prances  over  the  field, 
with  one  breast  bared  for  the  fight ;  and  now  with  her  hand 
in  showers  tough  javelins  she  throws,  now  with  unwearied 
arm  she  snatches  her  sturdy  halberd.  From  her  shoulder  rat- 
tles her  golden  bow,  and  the  arms  of  Diana.  Even  if  at  any 
»time  repulsed  she  gave  ground,  still  turned  [against  the  foe] 
she  aimed  the  winged  shafts  from  her  bow.  Around  her  were 
her  select  retinue,  the  virgin  Larina,  Tulla,  and  Tarpeia  brand- 
ishing her  brazen,  ax,  Italian  nymphs ;  whom  sacred  Camilla 
herself  had  chosen  .for  her  glory,  and  as  trusty  assistants  in 
war  and  peace :  like  Thracian  Amazons,  when  they  beat  the 
banks  of  Thermodon,3a  and  war  with  particolored  arms, 
either  round  Hippolyte,33  or  about  Panthesilea,  when  that 
martial  lady  in  her  chariot  returns  ;  and  with  loud  yelling  up- 
roar the  female  troops  with  half-moon8*  shields  exult.-  Whom 
first,  whom  last,  didst  thou,  fierce  virgin,  with  thy  shafts 

32  Thermodon  (Thermeh),  a  river  of  Pontus,  in  Asia  Minor,  in  the 
country  of  the  Amazons,  falling  into  the  Euxine  Sea  near  Themiscyra. 

33  Hippolyte,  queen  of  the  Amazons,  given  in  marriage  to  Theseus, 
by  Hercules,  who  had  conquered  her. 

3*  So  called  from  their  form.     Cf.  Quintus  Calab.  L  146,  uvy'  Itfer'  da- 
Tri6a  dlav  ukiyKiov  uvrvyi  [tTjVTjf.     B. 

16* 


370  ^NEID.  B.  XL  666—700. 

overthrow  ?  or  how  many  bodies  didst  thou  stretch  gasping 
on  the  ground  ?  First  Eumenius,  the  son  of  Clytius,  whose 
exposed  breast,  as  he  stood  right  against  her,  she  transfixes 
with  the  long  spear  of  fir.  He,  vomiting  up  torrents  of  blood, 
falls  and  bites  the  bloody  ground,  and  dying  writhes  on  his 
own  wound.  Then  Liris  and  Pagasus  besides  ;  of  whom  the 
one  tumbling  backward  from  his  horse  wounded  under  him 
while  he  gathers  up  the  reins,  the  other,  as  he  comes  up,  and 
reaches  his  unavailing  hand  to  his  falling  friend,  both  fall 
headlong  and  at  once.  To  these  she  joins  Amastrus,  the  son 
of  Hippotas ;  and  at  distance  keenly  plying  with  darts  pur- 
sues Tereas,  Harpalycus,  Demophoon,  and  Chromis ;  and 
as  many  shafts  as  shot  from  her  hand  the  virgin  hurled,  so 
many  Trojan  heroes  fell.  Afar  the  hunter  Ornytus  in  strange 
arms  rides  on  his  lapygian"  steed ;  his  broad  shoulders  a 
hide  torn  from  a  fierce  bullock  overspreads  ;  his  head  a  wolf's 
vast  yawning  mouth  and  jaws  with  white  teeth  cover,  and  a 
rustic  lance36  arms  his  hand.  In  the  midst  of  the  troops  he 
moves  about,  and  overtops  the  rest  by  a  full  head.  Him  in- 
tercepted (nor  hard  was  the  task,  now  that  she  had  put  his 
troops  to  flight)  she  transfixes,  and  over  him  these  words  with 
hostile  heart  pronounces :  Tuscan,  didst  thou  fancy  that  thou 
wast  hunting  beasts  of  chase  in  the  woods  ?  The  day  is  come, 
that  by  a  female  arm  confutes  your  vaunts :  yet  to  the  manes 
of  thy  fathers  this  no  trifling  honor  shalt  thou  bear,  that* 
thou  didst  fall  by  the  weapon  of  Camilla.  In  order  next  Or- 
silochus  and  Butes,  the  two  most  bulky  bodies  of  the  Trojans, 
[she  assaults]  :  but  Butes  right  against  her  with  the  pointed 
lance  she  transfixes,  between  the  corselet  and  the  helmet,  where, 
as  he  sits  [upon  the  horse],  the  shining  neck  appears,  and 
where  down  from  his  left  arm  the  buckler  hangs :  Orsilochus 
she  mocks  with  [dissembled]  flight,  and  wheeling  round  in  a 
spacious  orb,  turns  short  upon  him  in  a  narrower  circle,  and 
pursues  the  pursuer.  Then  rising  high,  with  redoubled 
strokes  she  drives  her  sturdy  ax  through  his  arms,  and 
through  his  bones,  while  he  prays  and  earnestly  begs  his  life  : 
with  his  warm  brains  the  wound  besmears  his  face.  The 
warrior  son  of  Aunus,  the  Apennine  mountaineer,  casually 

35  i.  e.  "Appulo."     SEBVITJS.     Compare  Gellius  ii.  22.     B. 

36  "Sparus,"  a  rustic  missile,  called,  according  to  Varro  (cf.  Servius), 
from  its  similarity  to  a  fish  of  that  name.     B. 


B.  xi.  701—733.  ^ENEID.  371 

encountered  her,  and  startled  with  the  sudden  sight  stopped 
short ;  not  the  last  of  the  Ligurians,  while  the  Fates  suffered 
him  to  practice  fraud.  Soon  as  he  perceives  that  now  by  no 
flight  he  can  evade  the  combat,  nor  avert  the  queen  who 
presses  him  close,  with  policy  and  craft  attempting  to  execute 
his  wishes,  he  thus  begins  :  What  mighty  courage,  female,  if 
on  a  warlike  steed  you  rely  ?  throw  away  the  means  of  flight, 
and  trust  thyself  with  me  hand  to  hand  on  equal  ground,  and 
prepare  for  the  combat  on  foot :  soon  shalt  thou  know  to 
which  of  us  his  vain-glorious  boasting  will  bring  harm."  He 
said ;  but  she,  breathing  fury,  and  stung  with  fierce  resent- 
ment, delivers  her  steed  to  an  attendant,  and  confronts  him  in 
equal  arms  with  the  naked  sword  on  foot,  and  with  her  device- 
less  shield  undaunted.  But  the  youth,  presuming  that  he  had 
overcome  by  artifice,  instantly  flies  off,  and,  turning  about  his 
horse's  head,  is  borne  away  with  precipitation,  and  tires  his 
fleet  courser  with  the  iron  spur.  Fond  Ligurian,  [says  she,] 
flushed  with  unavailing  pride  of  soul,  in  vain  hast  thou  per- 
fidious tried  thy  country's  slippery  arts  ;  nor  shall  all  thy  arti- 
fice bring  thee  off  safe  to  cheating  Aunus.  Thus  the  virgin 
said,  and  with  nimble  foot,  all  on  fire,  outruns  his  courser's 
speed,  and,  grasping  the  reins,  engages  him  face  to  face,  and 
takes  vengeance  on  his  hostile  blood  ;  with  the  same  ease  as 
from  a  lofty  rock  the  falcon,  sacred  bird  [of  Mars],  with 
\vinged  speed  overtakes  a  dove  aloft  among  the  clouds,  and 
seizing  gripes  her  fast,  and  scoops  out  the  bowels  with  his 
hooked  talons  :  then  from  the  sky  her  blood  and  torn  plumes 
drop  down. 

But  not  with  inattentive  eyes  the  Sire  of  gods  and  men 
these  scenes  surveying,  on  high  Olympus  exalted  sits.  The 
Sire  rouses  Tuscan  Tarchon  to  bloody  battles,  N  and  with  no 
mild  incentives  inflames  his  rage.  Therefore,  amid  the 
scenes  of  slaughter  and  flying  squadrons,  Tarchon  is  hurried 
on  by  his  steed,  and  with  various  remonstrances  animates  the 
wings,  calling  each  man38  by  his  name  ;  and  rallies  the  broken 
troops  to  battle.  Oh  never  to  be  moved  with  just  indigna- 
tion !  Oh  still  dastardly  faint-hearted  Tuscans,  what  fear, 

37  "  Fraudem"  seems  to  have  been  always  regarded  as  the  correct 
reading.  See  Servius.  B. 

33  So  Furius  apud  Macrob.  Sat.  vi.  1,  "  nomine  quemque  ciet."  Silius 
i.  454,  "  Cunctosque  ciebat  nomine."  B. 


372  uENEID.  B.  XL  734—767. 

what  cowardice  so  base  has  seized  your  souls  1  Does  a  woman 
drive  you  straggling,  and  put  these  squadrons  to  flight  ? 
What  avails  the  sword  ?  or  why  wield  we  in  our  hands  these 
useless  weapons  ?  But  not  so  slothful  are  ye  in  the  service  of 
Venus  and  her  nocturnal  wars,"  or.  when  the  bent  pipe  of 
Bacchus  hath  summoned  the  choirs  to  wait  for  the  banquets 
and  bowls  at  the  sumptuous  board.  This  is  your  delight, 
this  your  ambition,  while  the  auspicious  augur  declares  the 
sacred  rites,  and  the  fat  victim  invites  you  to  the  deep  groves. 
This  said,  he  spurs  on  his  steed  into  the  midst,  he  too  bent  on 
death,  and  in  furious  perturbation  advances  directly  against 
Venulus ;  and  with  his  right  hand  grasps  the  foe  torn  off  his 
steed,  and  precipitant  with  huge  violence  bears  him  off  before 
their  eyes.  Fiery  Tarchon  flies  over  the  plain,  bearing  both 
the  warrior  and  his  arms :  then  from  the  top  of  his  lance  he 
breaks  off  the  steel,  and  explores  the  open  chinks  where  he 
may  inflict  the  mortal  wound.  He,  on  the  other  hand,  strug- 
gling against  him,  wards  off  his  hand  from  his  throat,  and 
force  by  force  evades.  And  as  when  the  tawny  eagle  soaring 
high  bears  off  a  serpent  whom  she  hath  seized,  hath  fixed  in 
him  her  feet,  and  with  her  talons  griped  him  fast ;  but  the 
wounded  serpent  writhes  his  curving  volumes,  and  with 
erected  scales  is  stiff,  and  hisses  with  his  mouth,  rising  high 
against  [his  foe]  :  she  not  the  less  with  hooked  beak  squeezes 
him  struggling,  at  the  same  time  flaps  the  air  with  her  wings ; 
just  so,  from  the  army  of  the  Tiburtines  Tarchon  in  tri- 
umph bears  off  his  prey.  The  Tuscans,  following  the  ex- 
ample and  fortune  of  their  leader,  rush  on.  Then  Aruns40 
to  death  devoted,  with  his  javelin  and  much  artifice,  first 
courses  round  the  swift  Camilla,  and  watches  what  most 
favorable  opportunity  may  occur.  Wherever  amid  the 
troops  the  furious  maid  drove  on,  there  Aruns  follows,  and 
silently  surveys  her  steps.  Wherever  she  victorious  returns, 
and  from  the  foe  withdraws  her  steps  that  way  the  youth 
secretly  winds  about  the  reins  with  speed.  Now  these,  now 
those  approaches,  and  the  whole  circuit  he  traverses,  and  with 
mischievous  purpose  shakes  his  unerring  lance.  By  chance 

39  Virgil  expresses  the  Greek  vvKropaxelv  (c£  Aristenet.  i.  10).     B. 

40  Aruns,  a  Trojan,  who  slew  Camilla,  and  was  killed  by  a  dart  of 
Diana, 


R  n.  768 — 800.  ^ENEID.  373 

Chloreus,41  sacred  to  Cybele,  and  formerly  her  priest,  at  dis- 
tance shone  conspicuous  in  Phrygian  arms,  and  spurred  on  his 
foaming  courser  ;  which  a  hide  compact  with  gilt  scaly  plates 
of  brass  in  form  of  plumes,  covered.  He  himself,  gaudy  in 
barbaric  purple  of  darkened  hue,  shot  Cretan  arrows  from  his 
Lycian  bow.  Of  gold  the  bow  hung  rattling  from  his  shoulders, 
and  of  gold  was  the  helmet  of  the  priest ;  then  in  a  knot  with 
a  clasp  of  yellow  gold  he  had  collected  his  saffron  chlamys, 
and  its  rustling  plaits  of  lawn,  having  his  Phrygian  tunic 
embroidered  with  needle-work,  Him  the  virgin,  whether 
that  she  might  fix  Trojan  arms  in  the  front  of  the  temple,  or 
show  herself  at  the  chase  in  captive  gold,  of  all  the  warring 
chiefs  alone  blindly  pursued;  and  through  the  whole  host, 
for  a  woman's  longing  for  the  prey  and  spoils,  with  heedless 
ardor  roamed  :  when  at  length  Aruns,  snatching  the  occasion, 
from  his  covert  throws  a  dart,  and  thus  to  the  powers  above 
addresses  his  prayer :  Apollo,  greatest  of  gods,  guardian  of 
holy  Soracte,  whom  we  chiefly  adore ;  for'  whom  the  fire  of 
pine"  with  heaps  [of  fuel]  is  fed ;  and  in  whose  honor, 
through  the  midst  of  the  flames,43  we  thy  votaries,  relying  on 
our  piety,  walk  over  a  length  of  burning  coals  ;  grant,  almighty 
Sire,  that  by  our  arms  this  infamy  may  be  blotted  out.  Not 
pillage  or  trophy,  or  any  spoils  of  a  vanquished  maid,  I  seek  : 
to  me  my  other  exploits  will  bear  renown.  If,  smitten  by  a 
wound  from  me,  this  rueful  pest  shall  fall,  I  to  my  native  city 
shall  [willingly]  return  inglorious.  Phoebus  heard,  and  with 
himself  ordained  that  part  of  the  vow  should  be  fulfilled  ;  part 
in  fleet  air  he  dispersed.  By  sudden  death  to  overthrow 
Camilla  off  her  guard,  he  granted  to  his  suppliant ;  that  his 
illustrious  country  should  see  him  safely  return  he  denied,  and 
that  petition  the  tempest  turned  adrift  among  the  winds. 
Therefore?  soon  as  sent  from  his  hand,  the  spear  gave  a  whiz- 
zing sound  through  the  air,  the  armies  turned  their  attention, 

41  Chloreus,  a  priest  of  Cybele,  who  came  with  jEneas  into  Italy,  and 
was  killed  by  Turnus. 

42  But  this  may  also  mean  "  the  pitchy  flame,"  as  in  Soph.  Antig.  124, 
•jrevKaevff  'H(j>aiaTor.     So  Tryphiodorus,  214,   Trcv/oyevrof  uvaoxbfievoi 
mpoc  6pfj^v.     Compare  Heins.  on  Silius  v.  179.    B. 

43  This  is  illustrated  from  a  historical  passage  in  Pliny,  lib.  vii.  cap.  2. 
Haud  procul  urbe  Roma,  in  Faliscorum  agro,  familiae  sunt  paucae,  qua? 
vocantur  Hirpiae :  quse  sacrificio  annuo,  quod  fit  ad  montem  Soractem 
Apollini,  super  ambustam  ligni  strnem  ambulantea  non  aduruntur. 


374  ^ENEID.  B.  xi.  801—837. 

and  all  the  Volseians  on  the  queen  their  eyes  directed.   Neither 
air  nor  whizzing  sound   did  she  heed,  or  the  weapon  flying 
from  the  sky,  till  plunged  beneath  her  naked  breast  the  spear 
stuck  fast,   and   driven   home,  drank   deep  her  virgin  blood. 
Her  attendants  in  trembling  haste  pour  in  together,  and  lift 
up  their  falling  queen.     Above  all,  Aruns,  stunned  with  joy 
and  mingled  fear,  flies ;  and  now  no  longer  dares  trust  to  his 
spear,  or  make  head  against  the  weapons  of  the  virgin.     And 
as  some  fierce44  wolf,  after  he  has  slain   a  shepherd  or  lusty 
bullock,  conscious  of  his  daring  deed,  forthwith  by  some  un- 
beaten  path   hath  to  the   lofty  mountains  made   hie    retreat, 
before  the  hostile  darts  pursue  him;  and  cowering  hides  his 
cowardly  tail  under  him,  and  hastens  to  the  woods :  just  so 
Aruns   in   hurrying   perturbation   from    sight   withdrew,  and 
pleased  with  his  flight  mixed  among  the  armed  troops.     She 
dying  wrenches  out  the  weapon  with  her  hand  ;   but  between 
the  bones  in  her  side  the  steel  point  stands  fixed  with  a  deep 
wound.     Down  she  sinks  lifeless  ;  down  sink  her  cold  eyes  in 
death  ;   her  once  blooming  hue  hath  forsaken  her  face.     Then 
thus,  breathing  her  last,  she  addresses  Acca,  one  of  her  com- 
peers, who,  beyond  the  rest,  was  singularly  trusty  to  Camilla, 
with  whom  she  used  to  divide  her  cares  ;  and  thus  these  words 
she  speaks :   So  far,  O  sister  Acca,  have  I  held  out ;  now  a 
cruel  wound   undoes   me,    and  all   objects  around  put  on   a 
face  of  darkness.     Fly  quick,  and   bear   these,  my  last  com- 
mands, to  Turnus :  let  him  advance  to  the  combat,  and  repel 
the  Trojans  from  the  city.     And  now,  farewell.     At  the  same 
time  with  these  words  she  dropped  the  reins,  sinking  to  the 
ground  involuntarily  :  then  of  vital  heat  bereft,  she  disengages 
herself  from  the  whole  body  by  degrees ;    and   reclined  her 
drooping  neck,  and  head  subdued  by  death,  leaving  her  arms ; 
and  with  a  groan  her  life  indignant  fled  to  the  shades.     Then 
indeed  a  prodigious  outcry  arising   strikes  the  golden  stars. 
The   combat  grows  more  bloody,  now  that  Camilla  is  over- 
thrown.    At  once  in  thick  array  rush  on  the  whole  strength 
of  the  Trojans,  the  Tuscan  chiefs,  and  the  wings  of  Arcadian 
Evander. 

But  Opis,  appointed  by  Diana  to  watch   [the  fair],  a  long 
while  had  sat  aloft  on  the  high  mountains,  and  fearless  viewed 

44  See,  however,  Anthon  on  JEn.  x.  707.     B. 


B.  xi.  838—874.  J3NEID.  375 

the  combat.  And  soon  as  from  far  she  espied  Camilla  by  a 
lamentable  death  overthrown  amid  the  bustle  of  the  infu- 
riated youths,  she  inly  groaned,  and  from  the  bottom  of  her 
breast  uttered  these  words :  Ah  virgin,  too,  too  cruel  punish- 
ment hast  thou  sustained,  for  offering  to  defy  the  Trojans  in 
war !  nor  hath  it  aught  availed  thee  that  lonely  in  the  woods 
thou  wast  a  votary  to  Diana,  and  on  thy  shoulder  didst  bear 
our  quivers :  yet  not  without  honor  has  thy  queen  forsaken 
thee  now  in  death's  extremity,  nor  shall  this  thy  death  be  un- 
recorded among  the  nations,  nor  shalt  thou  bear  the  infamy 
of  being  unrevenged  :  for  whoever  with  a  wound  hath  violated 
thy  body,  shall  by  just  death  his  crime  atone.  Under  the 
lofty  mountain  stood  the  stately  tomb45  of  Dercennus,  the 
ancient  king  of  Laurentum,  formed  of  a  mount  of  earth,  and 
shaded  with  gloomy  holm.  Here  first  the  goddess,  pre-emi- 
nent in  beauty,  with  a  rapid  effort  [of  her  wings]  alights,  and 
Aruns  from  the  high  eminence  surveys.  Soon  as  she  saw  him 
shining  in  armor,  and  vainly  -swelling,  she  said,  Why  dost 
thou  move  off  that  way  ?  hither  direct  thy  course,  hither  come 
to  meet  thy  doom,  that  from  Camilla  thou  mayest  receive  thy 
due  reward.  Shalt  thou,  too,  have  the  honor  to  die  by  Di- 
ana's shafts  ?  She  said,  and  from  her  gilded  quiver  the  Thra- 
cian  nymph  drew  forth  a  winged  arrow,  and  wrathful  bent 
her  bow,  and  stretched  it  to  its  length,  till  the  crooked  points 
together  met,  and  now  with  both  hands  alike  she  touched, 
with  the  left  the  steel  point,  and  with  the  right  and  bow-string 
her  breast.  Forthwith  Aruns  heard  at  once  the  hissing  of 
the  shaft  and  sounding  air,  and  in  his  body  the  steel  stuck 
fast.  Him,  expiring  and  groaning  his  last,  his  regardless 
friends  abandon  in  the  dusty  plain  unknown:  Opis  to  the 
ethereal  sky  on  wings  is  borne  away. 

First  fly  the  warriors  of  Camilla's  left-armed  wing,  now 
that  their  queen  is  lost;  the  Rutulians  in  confusion  fly;  va- 
liant Atinas  flies ;  the  discomfited  leaders,  and  the  desolate 
companies,  both  seek  safe  retreats,  and  turning  their  backs,  on 
coursers  bend  their  way  toward  the  town.  Nor  is  any  one 
able  with  arms  to  sustain,  or  stand  against  the  Trojans  press- 
ing on,  and  dispensing  death ;  but  on  their  languid  shoulders 
they  bear  off  their  bows  unbent,  and  with  swift  career  the 

45  "  Bustum"  is,  properly,  the  place  where  a  corpse  has  been  burnt.  B. 


376  jENEID.  B.  xi.  875—914 

courser's  hoof  beats  the  moldering  plain.  Dust,  in  thick 
clouds  of  black  vapor,  is  rolled  toward  the  walls ;  and  from 
the  towers  the  matrons  beating  their  breast  raise  the  female 
shriek  to  the  stars  of  heaven.  On  those  who  first  with  speed 
burst  within  the  expanded  gates  a  hostile  throng  in  a  mingled 
body  presses  ;  nor  escape  they  deplorable  death,  but  in  the 
very  entrance,  under  their  native  walls,  and  amid  the  shelter 
of  the  houses,  transfixed  together  they  breathe  out  their  souls. 
Some  shut  the  gates,  nor  dare  to  open  a  passage  to  their 
friends,  or  within  the  walls  to  receive  them  imploring :  and  a 
most  lamentable  slaughter  ensues  of  such  as  guarded  with 
their  arms  the  passes,  and  such  as  rushed  on  those  arms.  The 
excluded,  before  the  eyes  and  faces  of  their  grieving  parents, 
partly  tumble  headlong  into  the  deep  trenches,  ruin  closely 
pursuing.  Some  giving  loose  reins,  blindfold  and  with  rapid 
speed  batter  against  the  gates,  and  the  firmly  barricaded  posts. 
Even  the  trembling  matrons,  soon  as  from  the  walls  they 
espied  the  corpse  of  Camilla,  with  the  greatest  eagerness  (since 
affection  to  their  country  prompts  them)  cast  darts  with  their 
hands,  and,  rushing  precipitant  with  hardened  oaks,  stakes, 
and  poles  burned  at  the  point,  imitate  iron  weapons,  and  arc 
ambitious  to  die  the  first  before  the  walls.  Meanwhile  this 
horrid  intelligence  fills  [the  ears  of]  Turnus  [as  he  lies  am- 
bushed] in  the  woods,  and  to  the  youth  Acca  reports  the 
dreadful  disorder ;  that  the  troops  of  the  Volscians  were  cut 
in  pieces,  Camilla  had  fallen,  the  vengeful  foes  were  making  a 
furious  onset,  and  by  a  successful  battle  had  made  themselves 
masters  of  all ;  that  the  consternation  was  now  propagated  ta 
the  city.  He  furious  (for  so  the  inflexible  decrees  of  Jove 
require)  quits  the  hills  he  had  beset,  forsakes  the  rugged  woods. 
Scarcely  had  he  gone  out  of  sight,  and  possessed  the  plain, 
when  father  ./Eneas,  entering  the  open  lawns,  overpasses  the 
mountain's  ridge,  and  safe  through  the  gloomy  wood  takes  his 
way.  Thus  both  impetuous,  and  with  their  whole  army,  to- 
ward the  city  advance ;  nor  are  they  many  paces  distant  from 
each  other.  And  at  once  .JSneas  at  a  distance  espied  the  plain 
smoking  with  dust,  and  saw  the  Laurentine  bands ;  and  Tur- 
nus descried  ^Eneas  fierce  in  arms,  and  heard  the  tread  of  feet, 
and  the  snorting  of  the  steeds.  Forthwith  they  would  engage 
in  fight,  and  essay  the  combat,  did  not  rosy  Phoebus  now  dip 
his  tired  steeds  in  the  western  ocean,  and,  day  declining, 


B.  xi.  915.    xii.  1—24.  -jENEH).  377 

bring  back  the  night.     In  their  camps  before  the  town  they 
rest,  and  intrench  the  Avails. 


BOOK  xn. 

In  the  Twelfth  Book,  Juno  prevents  the  single  combat  agreed  upon  by 
Turnus  and  jEneas.  The  Trojans  are  defeated  in  the  absence  of  their 
king,  who  had  retired  wounded,  but  is  miraculously  cored  by  Venus. 
On  nis  return,  he  again  challenges  Turnus  to  the  combat,  with  whose 
death  the  poem  concludes. 

As  soon  as  Turnus  saw  that  the  Latins,  broken  with  unsuc- 
cessful war,  had  lost  heart ;  that  now  his  promise  was  claimed, 
himself  marked  out  by  the  eyes  [of  all]  ;  he  burns  with  volun- 
tary determination  not  to  yield,1  and  raises  his  martial  spirit. 
As  in  the  fields  of  Carthage,  a  lion,  whose  breast  is  pierced 
by  the  hunters  with  a  smart  wound,  then  at  length  prepares 
for  battle,  and  delights  in  shaking  the  brawny  muscles  of  his 
shaggy  neck,  and  undaunted  breaks  the  infixed  weapon  of  the 
hunter  and  roars  with  bloody  jaws :  just  so  in  .  Turnus'  in- 
flamed breast  violence  arises,2  then  thus  he  addresses  the  king, 
and  thus  in  perturbation  begins :  In  Turnus  is  no  delay ;  the 
dastardly  Trojans  have  no  handle  to  retract  their  challenge, 
or  to  decline  what  they  have  agreed  to.  I  enter  the  lists: 
order  thou,  O  sire,  the  sacred  rites,  and  ratify  the  truce. 
Either  I  with  this  right  hand  shall  dispatch  to  Tartarus  the 
Trojan,  the  renegado  of  Asia  (let  the  Latins  sit  still  and  look 
on),  and  alone  shall  with  the  sword  repel  the  common  charge  ; 
or  let  him  rule  as  vanquished,  let  Lavinia  be  resigned  his 
spouse.  To  him  with  mind  composed  Latinus  replied :  O 
youth  surpassing  in  soul,  the  more  you  excel  in  fierce  valor, 
the  more  solicitous  it  concerns  me  to  consult  [your  safety], 
and  with  fearful  caution  to  weigh  the  danger.  You  are  heir 
to  the  kingdom  of  your  father  Daunus,  many  cities  have  been 
won  by  your  valor,  wealth  also,  and  a  high  spirit,  belong  to 
Latinus.  There  are  other  virgins  unwedded  in  Latium  and 

1  I  have  been  compelled  to  use  a  circumlocution  in  translating  "  ultro 
implacabilis  ardet."    Servius  well  observes:  "bene  ducis  dignitatem 
servavit,  ut  non  ideo  faceret,  quia  quidam  reposcebant ;  sed  sua  sponte 
accenderetur  in  proelium."    B. .. 

2  "  Gliscit"  rather  means  "  increases,  grows  vehement."    So  Lucret. 
i.  475,  "Ignis  Alexandri  Phrygio  sub  pectore  gliscens."  iv.  1062,  "In- 
que  dies  gliscit  furor."    B. 


378  uENEID.  B.  xii.  25—55. 

the  territories  of  Laurentum,  not  ignoble  in  their  birth. 
Give  me  leave  to  lay  before  you  without  guile  these  truths,  not 
pleasant  to  be  spoken  ;  at  the  same  time,  imbibe  them  with  deep 
attention.  It  was  decreed  that  I  should  wed  my  daughter  to 
none  of  her  former  suitors  ;  and  this  both  gods  and  men  unani- 
mous pronounced.  Overpowered  by  my  affection  for  thee,  over- 
powered by  the  ties  of  kindred  blood,  and  by  the  tears  of  my 
afflicted  consort,  I  broke  through  all  restraints;  wrested  my 
daughter  from  the  son-in-law  to  whom  she  was  promised; 
took  up  impious*  arms  [against  him].  From  that  time,  Turnus, 
you  see  what  calamities,  what  wars  pursue  me ;  what  disasters 
you  in  chief  endure.  In  two  great  battles  routed,  with  diffi- 
culty we  defend  our  hopes  of  Italy  in  this  city :  the  streams 
of  Tiber  still  run  warm  with-  our  blood,  and  the  spacious 
fields  are  white  with  the  bones  [of  our  slain].  Whither  am  I 
so  often  driven  back  ?  what  infatuation  changes  my  mind  ? 
If,  upon  Turnus'  death,  I  am  resolved  to  invite  [the  Trojans 
to  be]  my  allies,  why  not  rather  put  an  end  to  all  dissensions 
while  he  lives  ?  What  will  my  kinsmen  the  Rutulians,  what 
will  the  rest  of  Italy  say,  if  to  death  (Heaven  disappoint  my 
fears  !)  I  betray  you,  who  court  my  daughter  and  alliance  by 
marriage  ?  Consider  the  various  chances  of  war :  pity  your 
aged  sire,  whom  now  disconsolate  his  native  Ardea  separates 
far  from  you.  By  these  remonstrances  the  rage  of  Turnus  is 
by  no  means  checked :  he  swells  up  the  more,  and  by  medicine 
grows  more  distempered.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  speak, 
he  thus  began  in  words :  Whatever  care  for  me  you  entertain, 
most  excellent  prince,  I  beseech  you,  for  my  sake,  lay  aside, 
and  suffer  me  to  purchase  death  in  exchange  for  glory.  We 
too,  O  sire,  can  fling4  the  dart  and  spear  with  no  feeble  arm, 
and  blood  is  wont  to  flow  from  the  wounds  which  we  inflict. 
Nought  shall  his  goddess-mother  him  avail,6  who  in  a  female 
cloud  screens  the  fugitive,  and  conceals  herself  in  delusive 
shades.  But  the  queen,  terribly  alarmed  with  the  new  state 
of  the  fight,  wept,  and  ready  to  die  [with  grief],  grasped  her 

3  Not  only  because  ^Eneas  was  destined  by  the  gods  to  be  his  son-in-law, 
but  because  the  war  was  between  persons  who  had  formed  a  truce.     B. 

4  Literally,  scatter.     So  Silius  vii.  635,  "  spargentem  in  vulnera  saevua 
Fraude  fugse  calaraos."  ix.  390,  "spargere  tola  manu."     B. 

5  Such  is  the  force  of  "longe,"  as  illustrated  by  Gronov.  on  Sen.  Hip- 
pol.  974 ;  Drakenb.  on  Sil.  xviL  80.      B. 


u.  xn.  66—90.  ^NEID.  379 

raging  son-in-law  :  Turnus,  by  these  tears,  by  whatever  regard 
for  Amata  touches  your  soul ;  thou  art  now  the  only  hope, 
the  only  solace  of  my  wretched  old  age  ;  on  thee  depends  the 
glory  and  power  of  Latinus ;  on  thee  our  whole  family  now  in 
its  decline  relies ;  this  one  request  I  make,  forbear  to  engage 
with  the  Trojans.  Whatever  fortune  awaits  thee  in  that  com- 
bat, Turnus,  awaits  me  also ;  with  you  will  I  quit  this  hated 
light,  nor  captive  will  I  see  JEneas  my  son-in-law.  Lavinia, 
bathing  her  glowing  cheeks  in  tears,  listens  to  the  words  of 
her  mother;  [Lavrnia,]  in  whom  profound  modesty  kindled 
up  a  burning  flush,'  and  diffused  itself  over  her  blushing 
visage.  As  if  one  had  stained  the  Indian  ivory  with  ruddy 
purple ;  or  as  white  lilies  mingled  with  copious  roses  blush  ; 
such  colors  the  virgin  in  her  visage  showed.  Love  raises 
a  tumult  in  his  soul,  and  fixes  his  looks  upon  the  maid. 
He  burns  for  arms  the  more,  and  briefly  thus  addresses 
Amata:  O  mother,  do  not,  I  beseech  thee,  do  not  with 
tears,  do  not  with  so  inauspicious  an  omen,  send  me  from 
you,  now  that  I  am  on  my  way  to  the  combat  of  rigid  wars ; 
for  Turnus  is  not  at  liberty  to  retard  his  death  !.  Idmon, 
my  herald,  report  from  me  this  no  pleasing  message  to  the 
Phrygian  tyrant :  when  first  the  ensuing  morn,  borne  in  her 
crimson  car,  shall  blush  in  the  sky,  let  him  not  lead  his 
Trojans  against  the  Rutulians;  let  the  arms  of  Trojans  and 
Rutulians  rest ;  by  our  blood  be  the  war  decided ;  in  that  field 
let  Lavinia  be  won  as  a  bride.  When  he  had  pronounced 
these  words,  and  with  great  speed  retired  into  the  palace,  he 
calls  for  his  steeds,  and  exults  to  see  them  neighing  in  his 
presence;  which  steeds  Orithyia7  gave  (a  royal  present)  to 
Pilumnus,  such  as  in  whiteness  might  surpass  the  snow,  in 
speed  the  winds.  The  active  grooms  stand  around,  and  with 
their  hollow  hands  cheer  their  stroked  chests,  and  comb  their 
waving  manes.  Then  he  himself  wraps  about  his  shoulders 
his  corselet,  rough  with  gold  and  pale  orichalchum  :  at  the 
same  time  fits  for  use  his  sword  and  buckler,  and  the  horns  of 
his  flaming  crest ;  the  sword  which  the  god  of  fire  himself  had 
forged  for  his  father  Daunus,  and  plunged,  when  glowing,  in 

«  More  literally,  "  unto  whom  a  deep  blush  kindled  up  the  hot  cur- 
rent within,  and  overspread  her  burning  visage."  ANTHON. 

7  Orithyia,  a  daughter  of  Erechtheus,  king  of  Athens,  and  wife  of 
Boreas,  king  of  Thrace. 


380  jENEID.  B.  xn.  91—124. 

the  Stygian  wave.  Next  with  force  he  grasps  his  strong 
spear,  which  in  the  middle  of  the  palace  stood  resting  on  a 
mighty  column,  Auruncian  Actor's  spoil,  and  brandishes  it 
quivering,  exclaiming :  Now,  O  spear,  that  never  balked  my 
call,  the  time  is  now  at  hand.  Thee,  heroic  Actor,  thee  the 
right  hand  of  Turnus  now  wields :  grant  that  I  may  stretch 
his  body  on  the  ground,  and  with  my  strong  hand  rend  the 
corselet  torn  from  the  Phrygian  eunuch,  and  soil  in  the  dust 
his  locks  frizzled  with  hot  irons  and  dripping  with  myrrh. 
With  such  furies  is  he  driven,  and  from  the  whole  face  of  the 
inflamed  warrior  sparks  incessant  fly :  from  his  fierce  eyes  the 
fire  flashes :  as  when  a  bull  to  usher  in  the  fight  raises 
hideous  bellowings,  and  essays  his  rage  for  a  combat  with 
horns,  goring  against  the  trunk  of  a  tree ;  with  blows  he  beats 
the  air,  and  preludes  to  the  fight  by  spurning  the  sand. 
Meanwhile  ^Eneas,  fierce  in  the  arms  given  by  his  mother,  no 
less  whets  his  martial  fury,  and  kindles  up  his  rage,  pleased 
that  the  war  was  to  be  decided  on  the  proffered  terms.  Then 
he  solaces  his  friends  and  the  fears  of  sorrowing  liilus,  teaching 
them  the  fates ;  and  orders  the  messengers  to  carry  back  his 
positive  answer  to  king  Latinus,  and  prescribe  the  terms  of 
peace. 

The  next  day  arisen  had  scarcely  sprinkled  the  tops  of  the 
mountains  with  light,  when  first  from  the  deep  gulf  the  horses 
of  the  sun  lift  up  their  heads,  and  from  their  erected  nostrils 
breathe  forth  day.  Under  the  walls  of  the  spacious  city  both 
the  Rutulians  and  Trojans,  having  measured  the  ground,  pre- 
pared it  for  the  combat ;  and  in  the  center  [raised]  hearths 
and  altars  of  turf  to  their  common  gods:  others  attired  in 
linen  vails,8  and  having  their  temples  bound  with  vervain, 
bore  fountain-water,  and  fire.  The  Ausonian  legion  ad- 
vances, and  the  armed  squadrons  pour  forth  at  the  crowded 
gates :  on  the  other  side  the  whole  Trojan  and  Tuscan  army 
with  various  arms  rush  [to  the  field],  no  otherwise  arranged 
in  battle-array,  with  sword  in  hand,  than  if  summoned  to  the 

8  Serviua  writes  that  the  priests  and  sacred  ministers  among  the  Rom- 
ans, by  whom  the  laws  of  peace  and  war  were  confirmed,  were  prohibited 
to  wear  any  thing  of  linen ;  and  that  Virgil  designedly  clothes  the  Fecia- 
les  in  linen  vails  on  this  occasion,  to  give  us  to  know  beforehand  that 
the  league  was  to  be  broken,  since  it  was  ushered  in  with  unlawful 
rites.  Others  for  lino  read  limo,  a  kind  of  garment  or  apron  worn  by 
the  priests  in  sacrifice,  that  reached  down  from  the  navel  to  the  feet. 


B.  xii.  125—160.  uBNEID.  381 

fierce  combat  of  Mars.  The  leaders,  too,  in  gold  and  purple 
decked,  amid  the  thousands  scamper  [over  the  plain] ; 
Mnestheus,  the  offspring  of  Assaracus,  and  brave  Asylas  ;  and 
Messapus,  a  renowned  horseman,  Neptune's  son.  And  soon 
as,  upon  the  signal  given,  each  man  to  his  station  retired,  they 
fix  down  their  spears  in  the  ground,  and  rest  their  shields. 
Then,  with  eagerness  [to  see  the  combat],  matrons  in  crowds, 
the  populace  unarmed,  and  feeble  old  men,  occupy  the  towers 
and  roofs  of  houses ;  others  stand  near  the  lofty  gates.  But 
from  the  summit  of  the  hill,  which  is  now  called  Alban  (then 
the  mount  had  neither  name,  nor  honor,  nor  glory),  Juno, 
stretching  her  view,  surveyed  the  field  and  both  armies  of 
Laurentines  and  Trojans,  and  the  city  of  Latinus.  Forthwith 
she  thus  addressed  the  sister  of  Turnus,  a  goddess  to  the  deity 
who  over  pools  and  sounding  streams  presides  ;  on  her  this 
sacred  honor  Jove,  the  high  sovereign  of  the  sky,  for  her 
ravished  virginity  conferred :  O  nymph,  the  glory  of  rivers, 
dearest  to  my  soul,  thou  knowest  how  thee  in  chief,  to  all  the 
maids  of  Latium  who  mounted9  the  ungrateful  bed  of  mighty 
Jove,  I  have  preferred,  and  willingly  settled  thee  partner  of 
the  skies :  learn  now,  Juturna,10  lest  you  should  accuse  me, 
your  sad  disaster.  As  far  as  fortune  seemed  to  suffer,  and  the 
Fates  permitted  the  state  of  Latium  to  prosper,  Turnus  and 
your  city  I  protected :  now  I  see  the  youth  engaging  with 
unequal  fates  :  the  day  and  unfriendly  power  of  the  Destinies 
approach.  With  these  eyes  I  am  not  able  to  behold  this  com- 
bat, or  this  league.  If  aught  thou  darest  more  ready  for  a 
brother,  proceed :  it  becomes  thee ;  perhaps  better  fortune 
will  attend  the  wretched  [Latins].  Scarcely  had  she  spoken, 
when  from  her  eyes  Juturna  poured  forth  tears,  and  thrice 
and  four  times  with  her  hand  smote  her  comely  breast.  This 
is  no  time  for  tears,  Saturnian  Juno  says ;  dispatch,  and  if 
there  be  any  means,  rescue  your  brother  from  death :  or 
kindle  now  the  war  anew,  and  dissolve  the  concerted  league. 
I  authorize  you  in  the  daring  attempt.  Having  thus  advised, 
she  left  her  perplexed,  and  distracted  with  a  sad  wound  of 
soul. 

9  Virgil  expresses  ^Esch.  Suppl.  37,  Ini^vai  Murpuv.     So  also  Eurip. 
Hel.  376.     B. 

10  Juturna,  the  sister  of  king  Turnus,  changed  into  a  fountain  of  the 
same  name,  the  waters  of  which  were  used  in  the  sacrifices  of  Vesta. 


382  ^3NEID.  B.  xn.  161—190. 

Meanwhile  the  kings,  [and  in  particular]11  Latinus  of  ample 
frame,  rides  in  a  chariot  by  four  horses  drawn,  whose  reful- 
gent temples  twelve  golden  rays  encompass,  the  emblem  of 
his  ancestor  the  sun  :ia  Turnus  moves  in  a  car  drawn  by  two 
white  steeds,  brandishing  in  his  hand  two  javelins  tipped  with 
broad  steel.  On  the  other  side,  father  ./Eneas,  the  founder  of 
the  Roman  race,  blazing  with  his  starry  shield  and  arms  divine, 
and  Ascanius  by  his  side,  the  other  hope  of  mighty  Rome, 
advance  from  the  camp  :  in  a  pure  vestment  the  priest  brought 
up  the  youngling  of  a  bristly  sow,  and  an  unshorn  ewe-lamb,13 
and  presented  the  victims  at  the  blazing  altars.  They,  turning 
their  eyes  toward  the  rising  sun,  sprinkle  with  their  hands 
the  salt  cakes,  and  mark  with  the  sword  the  top  of  the  vic- 
tims' foreheads,  and  from  the  sacred  goblets  pour  libations  on 
the  altars.  Then  pious  ./Eneas,  having  unsheathed  his  sword, 
thus  prays :  Thou,  O  sun,  be  witness  now  to  my  prayer,  and 
this  land,  for  whose  sake  I  have  been  able  to  sustain  such 
grievous  toils  ;  and  thou,  almighty  father,  and  thou,  Saturnian 
Juno,  now  goddess,  now  more  propitious,  I  pray :  and  thou, 
glorious  father  Mars,  who  by  thy  sovereign  will  disposest  the 
fate  of  all  battles :  the  fountains  and  rivers  I  invoke,  and 
whatever  objects  of  religion  are  in  the  heavens  above,  and  the 
deities  that  dwell  in  the  azure  ocean.  _  If  the  victory  should 
chance  to  fall  to  Ausonian  Turnus,  it  is  agreed  that  the  van- 
quished [Trojans]  shall  to  Evander's  city  retire :  lulus  shall 
quit  these  territories :  nor  in  future  shall  the  ./Eneades,  vio- 
lating the  peace,  make  war  again  to  harass  these  realms  with 
the  sword.  But  if  victory  shall  declare  Mars  on  our  side  (as 
I  rather  presume,  and  rather  may  the  gods  confirm  by  their 
divine  will),  never  shall  I  compel  the  Italians  to  be  subject  to 
the  Trojans,  nor  aim  I  at  empire  for  myself;  let  both  nations 

11  I  have  followed  Anthon's  construing.    B. 

12  Latinus  was  the  grandson  of  Picus,  who  took  Circe,  the  daughter 
of  the  sun,  to  be  his  wife  or  concubine,  and  by  her  had  Faunus,  the 
father  of  Latinus,  who  consequently  was  the  grandchild  of  the  sun. 

13  Ruaeus  observes,  that  the  ewe  was  offered  for  ^Eneas,  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  Greeks,  who  commonly  ratified  a  league  with  the  sacrifice  of 
a  sheep  or  lamb,  as  we  see  in  Homer,  II.  iii.  103.     The  sow  again  is  for 
Latinus,  after  the  Roman  or  Italian  fashion,  which  Livy  intimates  to  have 
been  of  very  great  antiquity,  lib.  i.  24,  where  he  gives  the  form  of  rati- 
fying a  league  between  the  Romans  and  Albans,  in  the  reign  of  Tullua 
Hostilius :  "  Audi  Jupiter,  etc. — Si  prior  defexit,  tu  illo  die  Jupiter  pop- 
ulum  Romanum  sio  ferito,  ut  ego  hunc  porcum  hie  hodie  feriam." 


B.  xii.  191—224.  ^NEID.  383 

unsubdued  submit  on  equal  terms  to  an  everlasting  league. 
I  shall  ordain  the  sacred  rites  and  the  gods  :14  let  my  father- 
in-law  Latinus  enjoy  the  control  of  the  war,  his  wonted  sove- 
reign rule :  to  me  my  Trojans  shall  raise  a  city,  and  to  that 
city  Lavinia  shall  give  the  name.  Thus  ^Eneas  first  [said]  : 
then  thus  Latinus,  raising  his  eyes  to  heaven,  succeeds,  and 
to  the  stars  stretches  forth  his  right  hand :  By  those  same 
powers,  ^Eneas,  by  the  earth,  the  sea,  the  stars,  I  swear,  by 
Latona's  double  offspring,  and  two-faced  Janus,  by  the  majesty 
of  the  gods  infernal,  and  the  sanctuary  of  inexorable  Pluto. 
These  oaths  let  the  Sire  hear,  who  by  his  thunder  ratifies  our 
leagues.  On  the  altars  I  lay  my  hand ;  and  the  fires  here 
placed  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  the  gods  I  call  to  witness : 
no  day  shall  ever  violate  this  peace,  this  treaty,  on  the  part 
of  the  Italians,  whatever  way  the  event  shall  fall  out :  nor 
shall  any  power  make  me  swerve  from  them  with  my  will, 
even  though  it  should  wash  away  the  earth  into  the  waves, 
blending  it  with  the  flood,  and  dissolve  heaven  into  hell.  As 
this  scepter  (for  a  scepter  in  his  hand  he  chanced  to  wield) 
shall  never  sprout  forth  with  light  leaves,  twigs,  or  shady 
boughs,  since  once  lopped  in  the  wood  from  the  low  stem  it 
was  severed  from  its  mother-tree,  and  by  the  ax  laid  down 
its  locks  and  branching  arms ;  once  a  tree,  now  the  artist's 
hand  hath  enchased  it  in  beauteous  brass,  and  fashioned  it  for 
the  Latin  kings  to  wield.  By  such  asseverations  they  mutually 
confirmed  the  league  full  in  the  view  of  the  chiefs :  then  over 
the  flames  they  stab16  the  victims  consecrated  in  due  form,  and 
tear  out  their  entrails  from  them  yet  alive,  and  heap  up  the 
altars  with  loaded  chargers. 

But  to  the  Rutnlians  the  match  had  long-seemed  unequal, 
and  their  breasts  were  agitated  with  various  mixed  emotions  ; 
but  then  the  more,  as  they  discern  more  nearly  that  the  con- 
test is  one  of  unequal  strength.  Turnus  advancing  with  a 
silent  gait,  and  in  suppliant  form  with  downcast  eyes  vener- 
ating the  altars,  his  wan  cheeks,  and  the  paleness  over  his 
youthful  form,  aggravate  their  fears ;  which  surmises  soon  as 
his  sister  Juturna  observed  to  be  spread  abroad,  and  that  the 
drooping  hearts  of  the  populace  were  wavering;  into  the 
midst  of  the  troops,  personating  the  form  of  Camertus  (who 

14  i.  e.  the  Latins  are  to  receive  those  of  the  Trojans.     B. 

15  "  Jugulare"  properly  means  "  to  cut  the  throat."    B. 


384  uENEHX  B.  m.  225—269. 

was  of  a  noble  ancient  line,  and  from  his  father's  valor  de- 
rived an  illustrious  name,  himself  too  most  valiant  in  arms), 
into  the  midst  of  the  troops  she  throws  herself,  not  unskilled 
in  expedients,  sows  various  rumors  [among  the  ranks],  and 
thus  harangues  them  :  Are  you  not  ashamed,  O  Rutulians  !  to 
expose  one  life  for  all  who  are  such  ?'*  are  we  not  equal  in 
numbers  and  in  strength  ?  Lo  Trojans  and  Arcadians  both, 
and  the  fatal  band,  Etruria,  inveterate  to  Turnus,  all  are  here  : 
yet  should  but  every  second  man  of  us  engage,  we  hardly  have 
a  foe.  He,  [Turnus,]  it  is  true,  by  fame  shall  be  advanced  to 
the  gods,  at  whose  altars  he  devotes  himself,  and  in  the  mouths 
[of  men]  shall  ever  live ;  we  who  now  are  seated  idle  on  the 
plain,  shall,  after  having  lost  our  country,  be  constrained  to  sub- 
mit to  haughty  lords. 

By  these  words  the  resolution  of  the  youths  was  now  more 
and  more  inflamed,  and  through  the  troops  the  murmur  glides. 
Even  the  Laurentines  are  changed,  and  those  very  Latins, 
who  were  recently  promising  themselves  repose  from  war, 
and  prosperity  to  the  state,  now  are  to  arms  inclined,  wish  the 
league  unmade,  and  pity  the  hard  fate  of  Turnus.  To  these 
incentives  Juturna  adds  another  yet  stronger,  and  gives  a 
sign  from  high  heaven,  than  which  none  more  effectually  dis- 
turbed the  minds  of  the  Italians,  and  mislead  them  by  its  por- 
tent. For  in  the  ruddy  sky  the  tawny  bird  of  Jove  with 
winged  speed  pursued  some  water-fowl,  and  a  noisy  tribe  of 
the  feathered  kind ;  when  suddenly  swooping  down  to  the 
waves,  cruelly  rapacious,  he  snatched  up  in  his  crooked 
pounces  a  goodly  swan.  The  Italians  roused  their  attention : 
and  all  the  fowls  with  screaming  noise  turn  their  flight, 
amazing  to  see]  and  darken  the  sky  with  their  wings,  and 
forming  a  cloud,  pursue"  their  foe  through  the  air ;  till,  by 
the  force  [of  their  attacks],  and  the  very  encumbrance  of  his 
burden,  overpowered,  the  bird  gave  way,  and  from  his  talons 
dropped  his  prey  into  the  river,  and  flew  far  into  the  clouds. 
Then  indeed  with  acclamation  the  Rutulians  salute  the  omen, 
and  make  ready  their  troops :  and  first  Tolumnius  the  augur 
says,  This  is  what  with  prayers  I  often  sought :  I  welcome 

16  i.  e.  "  who  are  equal  in  valor  to  Turnus."     AXTHOS.     B. 

17  Literally,  "press  on."    Silius  v.  281,  "ceu  tigride  cerva  Hyrcana 
cum  pressa  tremit"  x.  125,  "Haud  secus  ac  Libyca  fetam  tellure  leae- 
nam  Venator  premit  obsesso  cum  Maurus  in  antro."     B. 

' 


B.  xn.  260—294.  uENBID.  385 

[the  omen],  and  own  [the  interposition  of]  the  gods ;  myself, 
myself  at  your  head,  snatch  up  the  steel,  0  Rutulians,  whom 
this  injurious  foreigner  like  weak  fowls  with  war  dismays,  and 
by  violence  ravages  your  coasts.  He  shall  betake  himself  to 
flight,  and  set  sail  far  into  the  deep.  Do  ye  with  one  accord 
close  your  squadrons,  and  from  the  combat  save  your  king, 
whom  they  would  ravish  from  you.1* 

He  said,  and  rushing  forth,  hurled  a  dart  full  in  the  face  of 
the  enemy :  the  whizzing  cornel-shaft  gives  a  twang,  and  with 
unerring  aim  cuts  the  air.  At  once  it  is  done,  at  once  a  loud 
shout  arises,  and  the  whole  ranks  are  disturbed,  and  their 
hearts  inflamed  with  tumultuous  rage.  The  flying  javelin,  as 
against  it  stood  nine  brothers  (most  comely  personages,  whom 
one  faithful  consort  of  Tuscan  blood  had  borne  to  Arcadian 
Gilippus),  one  of  these,  a  youth  distinguished  by  his  mien  and 
shining  arms,  just  in  the  middle,  where  the  stitched  belt  is 
worn  by  the  waist,  and  a  clasp  confines  the  joints  of  the  sides  : 
it  penetrates  the  ribs,  and  stretches  him  on  the  yellow  sand. 
But  the  brothers,  a  resolute  band,  and  stung  with  grief,  some 
draw  their  swords,  some  snatch  the  missile  steel,  and  rush 
blindfold;  against  whom  the  troops  of  Laurentum  spring 
forth:  then  in  close  array  Trojans,  and  Tuscans,  and  Arca- 
dians with  painted  arms,  again  stream  forth.  One  common 
ardor  so  strongly  possesses  all  to  decide  the  strife  by  dint  of 
sword.  They  rifled  the  very  altars ;  a  thick  tempest  of  darts 
flies  through  all  the  air,  and  an  iron  shower  pours  down 
amain  ;  and  they  bear  away  the  hearths  and  goblets.19  Latinus 
himself,  the  league  now  broken,  flies,  bearing  off  his  baffled 
gods.  Some  rein  their  chariots,  or  with  a  bound  vault  on  their 
steeds,  and  with  drawn  swords  are  ready.  Messapus,  eager  to 
violate  the  truce,  gives  a  terrible  shock  to  the  Tuscan  Aulestes, 
a  king,  and  bearing  the  ensigns  of  a  king,  by  jostling  against 
him  with  his  horse  :  he  retreating  falls,  and  unhappily  among 
the  altars  planted  behind  him  tumbles  on  his  head  and  shoul- 
ders. But  Messapus  fierce  flies  up  with  his  lance,  and  with  the 
beamy  weapon  from  on  high,  raising  himself  on  his  steed,  smites 
him  heavily,  earnestly  imploring  [his  life],  and  thus  speaks : 

18  "Raptum"  is  used  proleptically.     B. 

19  The  priests  and  ministers  bear  away  the  utensils  which  had  been 
employed  in  pledging  the  truce.     B. 

17 


386  ^ENEID.  B.  xn.  295—330. 


He  has  got  it,ao  this  victim  is  given  to  the  great  gods  as  a  more 
grateful  offering.  The  Italians  flock  toward  him,  and  strip  his 
limbs,  yet  warm.  From  the  altar  Chorinseus  snatches  a  burn- 
ing brand,  and  confronting  Ebusus,  as  he  is  coming  up  and 
aiming  a  blow,  prevents  him,  by  dashing  the  flames  full  in  his 
face.  His  bushy  beard  blazed,  and  singed  all  over,  diffused  a 
smell.  The  other,  pursuing  the  blow,  with  his  left  hand  grasps 
the  hair  of  his  confounded  foe,  and  with  exerted  force,  pressing 
his  knee  against  him,  nails  him  fast  to  the  ground ;  in  this  pos- 
ture he  plunges  the  cruel  sword  into  his  side.  Podalirius  with 
naked  sword  pursuing  the  shepherd  Alsus,  as  in  the  front  of 
the  battle  he  rushes  through  the  darts,  presses  close  upon  him : 
he  (Alsus)  drawing  back  his  ax,  cleaves  asunder  in  the  mid- 
dle the  forehead  and  chin  of  his  opponent,  and  with  the  bespat- 
tered blood  besmears  his  arms.  Cruel  slumbers  and  the  iron 
sleep  [of  death]  press  down  his  eyes  ;  closed  are  their  orbs  ii\ 
everlasting  night. 

But  pious  JEneas,  with  his  head  uncovered,  stretched  forth 
his  unarmed  hand  [in  sign  of  truce],  and  with  loud  acclamation 
called  to  his  men :  Whither  rush  you  ?  what  sudden  discord 
has  thus  arisen  ?  O  restrain  your  rage  !  the  league  is  now  struck 
up,  and  all  the  articles  are  settled  :  I  alone  have  a  right  to  en- 
gage ;  permit  me,  and  banish  your  fears :  this  hand  of  mine 
shall  make  the  league  firm  :  those  sacred  rites  give  me  security 
for  Turnus.  Amid  these  words,  amid  such  expostulations, 
lo  !  a  hissing  arrow  with  winged  speed  alighted  on  the  hero : 
by  whose  hand  shot,  by  whose  whirling  force  impelled,  who  ac- 
quired such  glory  to  the  Eutulians,  whether  a  god  or  chance, 
is  uncertain :  smothered  was  the  fame  of  the  illustrious  action, 
nor  did  any  one  vaunt  himself  on  [having  inflicted]  a  wound 
on  ^Eneas. 

Soon  as  Turnus  saw  ./Eneas  retiring  from  the  army,  and 
the  leaders  all  in  disorder,  with  sudden  hope  impetuous  he 
burns  :  for  his  steeds  and  arms  at  once  he  calls,  and  proudly 
springs  into  the  chariot  with  a  bound,  and  with  his  own 
hands  guides  the  reins.  Flying  along,  he  gives  to  death  many 
gallant  frames  of  men ;  many  half  dead  he  rolls  along,  or  with 
his  chariot  tramples  down  the  troops,  or  plies  their  flying 

10  i.  e.  "  he  has  received  his  coup  de  grace,"  a  gladiatorial  phrase.  C£ 
Ter.  Andr.  i.  8,  56.  B. 


«.  XIL  331—365.  J3NEID.  387 

backs  with  darts  caught  up.81  As  when  by  the  streams  of  the 
cold  Hebrus  bloody  Mars  with  fierce^  commotion  clashes  with 
his  shield,  and  kindling  war,  lets  loose  his  furious  steeds  ;  they 
over  the  plain  outfly  the  south  winds  and  zephyr  ;  Thrace  to 
its  utmost  bounds  groans  beneath  the  trampling  of  their  feet, 
and  the  features  of  grim  Terror,  Rage,  and  Stratagem,  the  ret- 
inue of  the  god,  stalk  around  :  with  like  fury  Turnus  through 
the  midst  of  the  embattled  plain  exulting  drives  his  steeds 
steaming  with  sweat,  prancing  over  his  miserably  slaughtered 
foes  :  their  rapid  hoofs  scatter  the  dewy  drops  of  blood,  and  gore 
with  mingled  sand  is  spurned  up.  And  now  to  death  he  gave 
Sthenelus,  and  Thamyris,  and  Pholus,  encountering  the  two  last 
hand  to  hand,  the  other  at  a  distance  ;  at  a  distance  also  both 
the  sons  of  Imbrasus,  Glaucus  and  Lades,  whom  in  Lycia  Im- 
brasus  had  bred,  and  furnished  with  equal  skill  in  arms,  either 
to  fight  hand  to  hand,  or  on  horseback  to  outfly  the  wind.  In 
another  quarter  Eumedes  rushes  into  the  midst  of  the  field, 
the  warlike  son  of  the  ancient  Dolon,"  representing  his  grand- 
sire  in  name,  in  soul  and  action  his  sire  ;  who  once,  sent  as  a 
spy  to  visit  the  Grecian  camp,  durst  claim  for  his  reward  the 
chariot  of  Achilles.  Him  Tydides  for  so  audacious  an  attempt 
honored  with  a  very  different  reward  ;  and  no  more  he  aspires 
[now]  to  the  steeds  of  Achilles.  Him  as  soon  as  Turnus  at  a 
distance  espied  on  the  open  plain,  having  first  sent  after  him  a 
fleet  arrow  through  the  extended  void,  he  stops  his  harnessed 
steeds,  down  from  the  chariot  springs,  and  flies  up  to  him  ex- 
piring and  prostrate ;  and,  pressing  his  foot  on  his  neck,  wrests 
the,  sword  from  his  hand,  and  deep  in  his  throat  plunged  the 
shining  blade,  and  withal  added  these  words :  Lo !  Trojan, 
stretched  at  your  length  measure  the  lands,  and  that  Hes- 
peria  which  by  war  you  sought:  these  rewards  they  reap 
who  dare  attack  me  with  the  sword ;  thus  they  build  their 
walls.  Hurling  his  lance  he  sends  Butes  to  bear  him  com- 
pany :  and  Chloreas,  and  Sybaris,  Dares,  and  Thersilochus,  and 
Thymoetes,  who  had  fallen  from  the  neck  of  his  plunging33 
steed.  And  as,  when  the  blast  of  Thracian  Boreas  roars  on 

21  Snatched  up  from  his  own  chariot,  or  from  the  bodies  of  the  slain.   B. 

88  Colon,  a  Trojan  remarkable  for  his  swiftness,  having  been  sent  as  a 
spy  to  the  Grecian  camp,  he  was  seized  and  put  to  death  by  Diomedes. 

88  So  Silius  uses  "  sternax,"  i.  261,  "  correpti  sternacem  ad  pro?lia 
frsenis  Frangere  equum."  Servius  interprets  it,  "  qui  facile  sternit  se- 
dent«m."  B. 


388  -<ENEID.  B.  xn.  366—397. 

the  ^Egean  Sea,  and  to  the  shore  pursues  the  waves,  wherever 
the  wiuds  exert  their  incumbent  force,  the  clouds  fly  through 
the  air :  just  so  before  Turnus,  wherever  he  cuts  his  way,  the 
troops  give  way,  and  the  routed  squadrons  fly :  his  impetuous 
ardor  bears  him  on,  and  the  wind,  blowing  right  against  his 
chai-iot,  shakes  his  fluttering  crest.  Him  thus  bearing  all  be- 
fore him,  and  bellowing  with  mad  rage,  Phegeus  could  not  en- 
dure ;  he  opposed  himself  to  the  chariot,  and,  with  his  right 
hand,  twisted  the  mouths  of  the  steeds  as  they  are  hurried  along, 
foaming  with  the  bit.  While  he  is  dragged  along,  and  hangs 
upon  the  pole,  [Turnus']  broad  lance  reaches  him  undefended, 
and  piercing  bursts  his  double-tissued  coat  of  mail,  and  with 
a  wound  grazes  the  surface  of  his  body.  But  he,  with  shield 
opposed  turning  on  the  foe,  advanced,  and  from  his  un- 
sheathed sword24  sought  assistance  ;  when  the  wheel,  and  the 
axle  accelerated  in  its  career,  hurled  him  headlong,  and  stretch- 
ed him  on  the  ground ;  and  Turnus  following,  with  his  sword 
struck  off  his  head,  between  the  lower  extremity  of  the  helmet 
and  the  upper  border  of  the  corslet,  and  left  him  on  the  sand  a 
[headless]  trunk. 

Now  while  in  the  field  victorious  Turnus  makes  such  havoc, 
in  the  interim  Mnestheus,  and  trusty  Achates,  and  Ascanius, 
accompanying,  placed  in  the  camp  ./Eneas  bleeding  [from  his 
wound,  and]  on  a  long  spear  propping  his  alternate  steps." 
He  storms,  and,  having  broken  off  the  shaft,  struggles  to 
wrench  out  the  dart,  and  demands  the  speediest  means  of  aid; 
bids  them  make  an  incision  with  the  broad  sword,  and  quite 
lay  open  the  weapon's  recess,  and  send  him  back  to  the  war. 
And  now  came  to  his  aid  lapyx,28  the  son  of  lasius,  by  Phoe- 
bus above  others  beloved ;  upon  whom  Apollo  himself,  capti- 
vated with  a  violent  passion  for  him,  heretofore  had  offered 
to  bestow  his  arts,  his  own  gifts,  his  skill  in  augury,  the  lyre 
and  winged  shafts.  He,  to  prolong  his  dying  father's  fate, 
chose  to  understand  the  powers  of  herbs  and  use  of  medicine, 
and  inglorious  to  practice  those  silent  arts."  Raving  vio- 

*4  I  may  as  well  remark,  that  "mucro"  generally  moans  a  short,  broad 
weapon.  B. 

25  So  Silius  vi.  68,  "  Saucius — fractse  innitens  hastaj."    B. 

50  lapyx,  a  Trojan,  the  son  of  lasius,  and  a  favorite  of  Apollo,  who 
instructed  him  in  medicina 

37  Because  unheralded  by  fame.     ANTHON.     B. 


JJ.  XTI.  398 — i35.  ^EXEID.  339 

lently  JEneas  stood,  leaning  on  his  massy  spear,  unmoved, 
amid  the  vast  confluence,  either  by  the  tears  of  the  youths 
or  of  grieving  lulus.  The  sage,  in  his  robe  doubled  back, 
girt  up38  after  the  physician's  fashion,  with  anxious  trepida- 
tion makes  many  efforts  in  vain  with  his  healing  hand,  and 
the  potent  herbs  of  Phoebus  ;  in  vain  with  his  right  hand  tugs 
the  dart,  and  with  tenacious  pincers  grips  the  steel.  No 
success  attends  the  means ;  his  patron  Apollo  lends  no  aid ; 
and  the  fierce  terror  of  the  field  spreads  more  and  more,  and 
the  mischief  is  nearer.  Now  they  see  the  air  stand  thick  with 
dust :  [Turnus']  cavalry  are  advancing,  and  thick  showers  of 
darts  fall  in  the  midst  of  the  camp :  to  heaven  ascend  the  dis- 
mal shouts  of  youth,  some  fighting,  and  some  falling  under  cruel 
Mars. 

Here  the  parent-goddess  Venus,  deeply  affected  with  the 
undeserved  suffering  of  her  son,  from  Cretan  Ida  crops  a 
stalk  of  dittany,  all  blooming  with  downy  leaves  and  purple 
flowers :  to  the  wild  goats  those  herbs  are  not  unknown  ;  [for 
from  them  they  seek  relief,]  when  in  their  backs  the  winged 
shafts  have  struck.  This  Venus,  her  face  muffled  in  a  dim 
cloud,  conveyed ;  with  this  she  tinctures  the  water  poured  in 
the  shining  vase,  secretly  medicating  it ;  and  injects  the  juice 
of  healing  ambrosia,  and  fragrant  panacea.  With  this  liquor 
aged  lapyx,  not  knowing  [its  cummunicated  virtue],  fomented 
the  wound  ;  and  suddenly  (for  all  the  pain  fled  from  his  body, 
and  all  the  blood  in  the  deep  wound  was  stanched ;  and  now 
the  arrow,  following  the  hand,  without  any  compulsion  drop- 
ped out,  and  to  his  pristine  state  his  vigor  returned  anew) 
lapyx  exclaims,  Quick  fly  for  the  hero's  arms ;  why  do  you 
stand  ?  thus  he  first  kindles  their  courage  against  the  foe.  [He 
adds,]  Not  from  human  aid,  or  from  the  masterly  art  [of  man], 
proceeds  this  cure,  nor,  ^Eneas,  is  it  my  right  hand  that  saves 
thee :  a  god  more  powerful  is  the  agent,  and  releases  thee  for 
enterprises  of  greater  moment.  He,  panting  for  the  combat, 
had  incased  his  legs  in  gold,  is  impatient  of  delay,  and  brand- 
ishes his  lance.  When  his  shield  was  fitted  to  his  "side,  and 
the  corslet  to  his  back,  within  his  armed  folds  he  embraces 
Ascanius,  and,  through  his  helmet,  gently  touching  his  lips, 
thus  addresses  him  :  From  me,  my  son,  learn  valor  and  true 

58  In  order  to  be  less  encumbered  in  his  operations.  So  Silius  v.  367, 
"  intortos  de  more  adstrictus  amictus,  Mulcebat  lympha  purgatum  san- 
guine vulnus."  B. 


390  -£3NEID.  B.  xir.  436—469. 

fortitude ;  thy  fortune  {learn]  from  others.  Now  shall  my  hand 
by  war  set  thee  in  safety,  and  lead  thee  to  the  glorious  fruits 
of  victory.  Be  sure  you  this  remember,  when  ere  long  your 
age  shall  reach  maturity ;  and,  calling  often  to  mind  the  exam- 
ples of  your  ancestors,  let  your  father  .^Eneas,  and  uncle  Hector, 
spur  you  on. 

Soon  as  he  uttered  these  words,  from  the  gates  he  issued 
forth  majestic ;  in  his  hand  brandishing  a  ponderous  javelin : 
at  the  same  time  in  a  thick  body  rush  forth  Antheus  and 
Mnestheus,  and  all  the  troops  from  the  abandoned  camp  pour 
along.  Then  with  mingled  clouds  of  blinding  dust  the  plain 
is  overspread,  and  the  earth,  shaking  by  the  trampling  of  their 
feet,  trembles.  Them  marching  Turnus  saw  from  an  oppo- 
site hill ;  the  Ausonians  saw,  and  cold  fear  ran  through  their 
inmost  bones.  Before  all  the  Latins  Juturna  first  heard  and 
recognized  the  sound,  and  in  consternation  fled.  The  hero 
(^Eueas)  speeds  his  way,  and  along  the  open  plain  drives  his 
fiery  squadron.  As  when  under  some  stormy"9  constellation 
a  tempest  moves  athwart  the  mid  ocean  toward  the  land ; 
ah !  how  the  hearts  of  the  desponding  swains,  presaging  from 
afar,  shudder  I  it  will  bring  ruin  on  the  trees,  and  desolation 
on  the  fields  of  corn,  it  will  lay  all  waste  around :  the  winds 
before  it  fly,  and  waft  hoarse  murmurs  to  the  shore  :  with  such 
fury  the  Trojan  chief  leads  on  his  squadron  against  the  oppos- 
ing foes  :  in  the  thick  array  they  crowd  upon  each  other, 
closing  their  serried  files.  ThymbraBUs  with  the  sword  smites 
down  the  stem  Osiris,  Mnestheus  beats  down  Archetius, 
Achates  kills  Epulo,  and  Gyas  Ufens.  The  augur's  self  To- 
lumnius  falls,  who  first  had  hurled  his  lance  against  the  ad- 
verse foes.  To  heaven  a  shout  is  raised ;  and  the  Rutulians, 
routed  in  their  turn,  show  their  backs  all  dusty  over  the  field. 
^Eneas  himself  neither  deigns  to  put  the  fugitives  to  death, 
nor  does  he  pursue  those  who  engage  in  close  fight,  or  who 
[at  a  distance]  throw  the  javelin ;  Turnus  alone,  with  accu- 
rate survey,  he  searches  out,  amid  the  thick  clouds  of  dust: 
him  alone  he  demands  to  the  combat. 

With  dread  of  this  the  warlike  maid  Juturna,  struck  to  the 
heart,  overthrows  Metiscus,80  Turnus'  charioteer,  between  the 

"  Literally,  "  when  [tho  influence  of]  some  constellation  has  burst 
forth."  B. 

30  Metiscus,  tho  charioteer  of  Turnus,  whose  form  was  assumed  by 
Juturna,  the  sister  of  Turnus. 


B.  xii.  470—506.  ^NEED.  391 

harness,  and  leaves  him  far  behind  fallen  from  the  beam. 
Herself  succeeds,  and  with  her  hand  guides  the  waving  reins, 
assuming  all,  the  voice,  the  person,  and  arms  of  Metiscus.  As 
when  throughout  the  spacious  mansions  of  some  wealthy  lord 
the  sable  swallow  flutters,  and  on  the  wing  traverses  the  lofty 
courts,  picking  up  her  scanty  fare,  and  food  for  her  loquacious 
young ;  and  now  in  the  empty  cloisters,  now  about  the  liquid 
pools  .chatters:  in  like  manner  through  the  midst  of  the  foes 
Juturna  rides,  and  flying  in  her  rapid  chariot,  circuits  all: 
and  now  here,  now  there,  exhibits  her  brother  in  triumph ; 
nor  suffers  him  to  engage  [in  single  combat] ;  but  far  [from 
^Eneas]  devious  flies. 

yEneas,  with  no  less  eagerness,  pursues  mazy  orbs,  in  order 
to  intercept  him,  traces  out  the  warrior,  and  with  a  loud  voice 
calls  after  him  through  the  broken  troops.  As  often  as  he 
casts  his  eyes  on  the  foe,  and  by  his  agility  attempted  the 
winged  courser's  speed ;  so  often  Juturna  wheeled  about  the 
chariot,  turning  it  from  him.  Alas,  what  can  he  do  ?  in  vain 
he  fluctuates  with  a  varying  tide,  and  different  cares  urge  his 
mind  to  opposite  schemes.  At  him  Messapus,  as  in  his  swift 
career  he  chanced  in  the  left  hand  to  wield  two  javelins  pointed 
with  steel,  levels  one  of  them,  hurling  it  with  a  well-aimed 
blow.  vEneas  stopped  short,  and  shrunk  himself  up  behind  his 
buckler,  stooping  on  his  knee;  yet  the  impetuous  dart  bore 
away  the  tufted  top  of  the  helmet,  and  from  his  head  struck  off 
the  towering  crest.  Then  indeed  his  rage  swells ;  and,  driven 
on  by  the  deceitful  arts  [of  his  foe],  when  he  perceived  that  the 
steeds  and  chariot  were  driven  back  in  a  different  career,  he 
makes  large  protestations  to  Jove,  and  the  altars  of  the  broken 
league.  At  length  he  rushes  into  the  midst  of  the  lines,  and 
under  the  auspicious  influence  of  Mars,  arrayed  in  terrors,  ushers 
in  a  hideous  undistinguished  slaughter,  and  gives  loose  reins  to 
all  his  fury. 

What  God  in  song  can  now  to  me  unfold  so  many  disastrous 
scenes,  what  God  [can  tell]  the  various  havoc  and  death  of 
the  chiefs,  whom  by  turns  now  Turnus  chases  over  all  the 
plain,  and  now  the  Trojan  hero  ?  Was  it  thy  pleasure,  Jove, 
that  nations,  which  were  [one  day]  to  be  joined  in  everlasting 
peace,  should  with  such  commotion  engage  ?  ^Eneas,  not  losing 
time,  full  in  the  side  smote  Sucro  the  Rutulian  (this  combat 
first  checked  the  Trojans  in  their  career),  and,  where  death  is 


392  .ffiNEID.  B.  m  507—547. 


- 
speediest,  through  tlie  ribs  and  wattled  fences  of  his  breast 

drives  home  the  cruel  blade.  Turnus  on  foot  encountering 
Amycus  from  his  horse  overthrown,  and  his  brother  Diores, 
smites  the  one  with  his  long  spear  as  he  comes  up,  the  other 
with  his  sword  ;  and,  having  cut  off  the  heads  of  both,  sus- 
pends them  on  his  chariot,  and  bears  them  along  bedewed  with 
blood.  The  other  dispatches  Talos,  Tana'is,  and  stout  Cethe- 
gus,  all  three  at  one  assault,  and  dejected  Onytes,  of  Theban 
extraction,  the  son  of  Perida.  Turnus  [again  overthrows] 
the  brothers  sent  from  Lycia  and  Apollo's  lands,  and  Menoetes, 
an  Arcadian  youth,  in  vain  to  war  averse  ;  whose  art  and  poor 
abode  had  been  about  the  streams  of  Lerna,  abounding  in 
fishes  ;  nor  were  the  employments  of  the  great  known  to  him, 
while  in  farmed  land  his  father  sowed.  And  as  two  fives  rage, 
let  loose  from  different  quarters  upon  a  withered  copse,  and 
crackling  laurel  groves;  or  as  with  impetuous  fall  from  the 
steep  mountains  two  foaming  rivers  roar  along  and  roll  to  the 
sea  each  laying  his  passage  waste  :  with  no  less  impetuosity 
^Eneas  and  Turnus  both  rush  through  the  embattled  plain  ; 
now,  now  their  rage  boils  up  within  ;  their  invincible  breasts 
are  ready  to  burst  with  fury  ;  now  with  full  career  they  drive 
into  the  midst  of  wounds.  The  one  (^Eneas)  with  a  ;  ock  and 
the  whirling  force  of  a  huge  stone,  overthrows  headlong,  and 
at  his  length  stretches  on  the  ground,  Murranus,  vaunting  loud 
his  ancestry,  and  the  ancient  names  of  his  forefathers,  and  his 
whole  line  through  the  Latin  kings  derived  :  him  beneath  the 
harness  and  yoke  the  wheels  dragged  along,  and  with  rap  on 
rap  the  hurrying  hoofs  of  his  steeds,  regardless  of  their  mas- 
ter, trample  upon  him.  The  other  (Turnus)  encounters  Ilus 
rushing  on,  and  storming  hideous  with  ire,  and  against  his 
gilded  temples  hurls  a  javelin  ;  through  his  helmet  transfixing 
his  brain,  the  spear  stood  still.  Nor  could  thy  right  hand,  O 
Creteus,  bravest  of  Greeks,  save  thee  from  Turnus;  nor  did 
his  own  gods  protect  Cupencus  from  the  assault  of  ^jEneas; 
The  sword  found  easy  access  to  his  heart  :  nor  did  the  resist- 
ance of  the  brazen  shield  aught  avail  its  hapless  owner.  Lau- 
rentum's  fields,  O  yEolus,  saw  thee  too  fall,  and  [stretched]  on 
thy  back  widely  cover  the  earth.  Thou,  whom  neither  the 
Grecian  squadrons  could  prostrate,  nor  Achilles,  who  over- 
threw Priam's  empire,  meetest  thy  doom.  Here  were  the 
boundaries  -of  thy  life;  under  Mount  Ida  thy  stately  palace, 


B.  xn.  547—582.  ^ENEID.  393 

in  Lyrnessus  thy  stately  palace ;  [here]  a  grave  in  Laurentine 
ground.  Thus  now  both  hosts  are  [on  each  other]  turned, 
both  Latins  and  Trojans  all :  Mnestheus,  and  stern  Sereslus, 
and  Messapus,  a  horseman  renowned,  and  gallant  Asylas,  the 
Tuscan  phalanx,  and  Arcadian  Evander's  cavalry,  the  war- 
riors each  to  his  power  their  utmost  efforts  exert.31  No  stop, 
no  stay ;  with  vast  emulation  they  strain  their  utmost. 

Here  his  lovely  parent  inspired  ^Eneas  with  the  resolution 
to  march  to  the  walls,  and  forthwith  advance  his  army  against 
the  city,  and  with  an  unexpected  blow  confound  the  Latins. 
While  through  the  various  ranks  in  quest  of  Turnus  he  rolled 
his  eyes  hither  and  thither  around,  he  sees  the  city  exempt 
from  the  disastrous  war,  and  in  safety  undisturbed.  Instantly 
the  image  of  a  more  decisive  battle  inflames  his  soul ;  he  calls 
the  chiefs,  Muestheus,  Sergestus,  and  brave  Serestus,  and 
takes  a  rising  ground,  where  the  rest  of  the  Trojan  army 
assemble  in  thick  array,32  nor  lay  their  targets  or  darts  aside. 
He  in  the  center,  posted  on  the  eminence,  addresses  them : 
Let  no  obstruction  be  given  to  my  proposal :  Jove  stands  by 
us :  nor,  because  the  design  is  sudden,  let  any  one  be  the  more 
backward.  The  city,  the  cause  of  the  war,  the  empire  itself  of 
Latinus,  unless  the  people  consent  to  receive  our  yoke,  and 
vanquished  to  submit,  this  day  will  I  overturn,  and  lay  their 
smoking  towers  level  with  the  ground.  Am  I  forsooth 
to  wait  till  Turnus  deign  to  accept  our  offered  challenge,  and 
[so  often]  beaten,  be  again  disposed  to  take  the  field  ?  This  is 
the  source,  my  friends,  this  the  great  hinge  of  the  execrable 
war.  Quickly  bring  brands,  and  with  fire  re-assert  the  league. 
He  said ;  and  all  at  once  with  emulous  ardor  form  the  wedged 
battalion,  and  to  the  walls  in  a  dense  body  move.  Suddenly 
the  scaling  ladders,  and  unexpected  flames  appear.  Some  fly 
to  the  gates,  and  butcher  the  first  they  meet ;  others  hurl  the 
steel,  and  darken  the  sky  with  darts.  JEneas  himself  among 
the  foremost  beneath  the  walls  extends  his  hand,  and  with  a 
loud  voice  accuses  Latinus ;  the  gods  he  calls  to  witness,  that 
he  is  a  second  time  compelled  to  the  fight;  that  the  Italians 
are  now  twice  become  his  foes,  and  this  the  second  league  they 

51  This  seems  like  an  imitation  of  Plautus,  Amphit.  i.  1,  76,  "Pro  se 
quisque,  id  quod  quisque  potest  et  valet."  Cf.  Ter.  Heut.  i.  1,  74.  Ovid 
Met.  iii.  642.  B. 

38  "  Densi"  refers  to  "  milites,"  which  is  implied  in  "  legio."     B. 

" 


894  ^ENEID.  B.  XII.  583—620. 

broke.  Among  the  trembling  citizens  dissension  arises  ;  some 
press  to  dismantle  the  town,  and  open  the  gates  to  the  Trojans, 
and  drag  the  king  himself  to  the  ramparts.  Others  take  up 
arms,  and  march  on  to  defend  the  walls.  As  when  a  shepherd 
hath  traced  out  a  swarm  of  bees  inclosed  in  some  harboring 
cleft,  and  filled  [their  cells]  with  bitter  smoke ;  they  within, 
alarmed  for  their  affairs,  in  trepidation  run  hither  and  thither 
through  the  waxen  camp,  and  with  loud  buzzing  whet  their 
rage :  through  their  cells  the  black  stench  is  rolled ;  then  with 
faint  murmur  the  caverns  within  resound ;  to  the  empty  regions 
of  air  the  smoke  ascends. 

This  disaster  too  befell  the  distressed  Latins,  which  with  woe 
shook  the  whole  city  to  the  foundation.  The  queen,  soon  as 
she  saw  the  enemy  advancing  to  the  town,  the  walls  assaulted, 
the  flames  flying  up  to  the  roofs ;  nowhere  the  Rutulian  bands, 
no  troops  of  Turnus ;  had  the  misfortune  to  believe  the  youth 
slain  in  the  heat  of  battle,  and,  with  sudden  grief  distracted, 
cries,  that  she  had  been  the  cause,  the  criminal  author,  and 
source  of  ills ;  and  frantic  in  her  raving  anguish,  pouring 
forth  many  exclamations,  with  her  hands  in  despair  asunder 
tears  her  purple  robes,  and  from  a  lofty  beam  ties  the  noose 
of  her  unseemly33  death.  Which  disaster  when  it  reached  the 
unhappy  Latin  dames,  first  her  daughter  Lavinia  tore  her 
golden  tresses  and  rosy  cheeks  with  her  hands ;  then  all  the 
rest  run  raving  about  With  shrieks  the  palace  far  and  wide 
resounds.  Hence  the  doleful  intelligence  is  blazed  through 
the  town.  Their  souls  despond.  Latinus,  thunderstruck  with 
the  destiny  of  his  queen,  and  the  ruin  of  his  city,  goes  about 
tearing  his  robe,  deforming  his  hoary  locks,  sprinkled  over 
with  sordid  ashes ;  and  much  himself  accuses,  for  not  having 
before  received  Trojan  JEneas,  and  cordially  admitted  him  as 
his  son-in-law. 

Meanwhile  the  warrior  Turnus  in  the  extremity  of  the  field 
pursues  a  few  straggling  troops,  now  more  languid,  and  lesff 
elated  with  the  speed  of  his  horses.  The  wind  wafted  to  him 
this  outcry  mingled  with  unseen  terrors ;  the  din  and  unjoy- 
ous  murmurs  of  the  distracted  city  struck  his  listening  ears. 
Ah  me !  why  with  such  woe  are  our  walls  disturbed  ?  What 

"  Either  referring  to  the  supposed  treatment  of  those  who  had  com- 
mitted suicide,  in  the  other  world,  or  to  the  disgracefulnesa  of  a  death 
by  hanging.  See  Servius.  B. 


B.  xii.  621— G59.  uENEID.  395 

alarming  shouts  burst  from  the  various  quarters  of  tlie  town  ? 
He  said,  and,  pulling  in  the  reins,  stood  still,  in  amazement 
lost.  Then  his  sister,  now  that  she  was  transformed  into  the 
figure  of  the  charioteer  Metiscus,  and  guided  the  chariot,  the 
horses,  and  the  reins,  in  these  words  replies  :  This  way,  Turnus, 
let  us  pursue  the  sons  of  Troy,  where  our  first  conquest 
opens  the  way.  Others  there  are  who  by  their  prowess  can 
defend  the  walls :  ^Eneas  assails  the  Italians,  and  [with  them] 
joins  battle.  Let  us  too,  by  exerting  our  activity,  dispense 
death  to  the  Trojans  without  pity ;  nor  shall  you  quit  the  field 
inferior  to  him  in  the  number  [of  the  slain],  or  in  the  honor 
of  the  fight.  To  this  Turnus  [replied] :  O  sister ;  I  knew 
you  long  ago,  when  first  by  artifice  you  broke  the  truce,  and 
engaged  yourself  in  these  wars ;  and  now,  though  a  goddess, 
in  vain  you  wear  disguise.  But  what  god  commissioned  you 
to  quit  the  skies  in  order  to  sustain  such  toils  ?  [are  you 
come]  to  be  witness  of  your  unhappy  brother's  cruel  death  ? 
For  what  can  I  do  ?  or  what  success  now  can  fortune  prom- 
ise ?  Myself  before  my  eyes  saw  Murranus,  than  whom 
there  survives  not  one  to  me  more  dear ;  [I  saw  him]  fall  as 
he  called  on  me  with  his  [expiring]  breath,  mighty  the  man, 
and  with  a  mighty  wound  subdued.  Ill-fated  Ufens  fell,  that 
he  might  not  be  a  spectator  of  my  disgrace  :  The  Trojans  are 
in  possession  of  his  corpse  and  arms.  Shall  I  suffer  our  city 
to  be  razed,  the  only  thing  that  was  wanting  to  our  distress — 
nor  by  this  right  hand  refute  the  calumnies  of  Drances  ?  Shall 
I  turn  my  back?  and  shall  this  earth  see  Turnus  fly?  Is  it 
then  so  grievous  a  misfortune  to  die  ?  Oh  infernal  powers,  be- 
friend me,  since  the  will  of  the  powers  above  is  hostile  !  To 
you  I  shall  descend  a  spotless  soul,  from  that  imputation  clear, 
and  at  no  time  degenerate  from  my  great  ancestors. 

Scarcely  had  he  said,  when  lo !  Sages,  hurried  by  his  foam- 
'ing  steed,  flies  through  the  midst  of  the  foes,  wounded  with  an 
arrow  athwart  the  face,  and  imploring  Turnus  by  name  he 
rushes  forward :  Turnus,  on  thee  our  last  relief  depends ; 
have  pity  on  thy  own.  ^Eneas  thunders  in  arms,  and  threatens 
to  overthrow  the  stately  towers  of  Latium,  and  raze  them 
to  the  ground :  and  now  to  our  roofs  the  fire-brands  fly.  On 
thee  their  eyes,  on  thee  their  whole  regard  the  Latins  turn : 
king  Latinus  himself  demurs,  whom  to  call  his  son-in-law,  or 
to  which  alliance  to  incline.  Besides,  the  queen,  most  faith- 


396  uENEID.  B.  xn.  659 — 695. 

f\i\  to  your  interest,  has  fallen  by  her  own  hand,  and  aban- 
doned to  despair,  has  fled  from  life.  Before  the  gates  Messapus 
and  brave  Atinas  alone  sustain  the  fight.  Around  those  on 
each  side  the  battalions  stand  in  thick  array,  and  an  iron  crop 
of  naked  swords  shoot  a  horrid  glare :  [yet,  during  these  pub- 
lic alarms,]  you  are  wheeling  your  chariot  along  the  desert 
field. 

Confounded  with  the  varied  aspect  of  affairs,  Turnus  was 
stunned,  and  stood  in  silent  gaze.  Deep  in  his  breast  boils 
overwhelming  shame,  also  frantic  rage  with  intermingled 
grief,  and  love  racked  with  fury,  and  conscious  worth.  Soon 
as  the  clouds  were  dispelled,  and  light  to  his  mind  restored, 
toward  the  walls  he  rolled  his  flaming  eye-balls  in  turbulence 
of  soul,  and  from  his  car  surveyed  the  spacious  city.  When 
lo !  a  torrent  of  flames  whirling  amid  the  different  stories,  in 
rolling  waves  ascended  to  heaven,  and  had  seized  the  tower ; 
the  tower  which  himself  of  jointed  beams  had  reared,  and 
under  it  wheels  applied,  and  with  lofty  bridges  overlaid. 
Sister,  [he  cries,]  now,  now,  destiny  prevails ;  forbear  to  stop 
me ;  let  us  follow  whither  god  and  rigid  fortune  calls.  I  am 
resolved  to  enter  the  lists  with  ^Eneas ;  whatever  bitterness 
is  in  death,  I  am  resolved  to  bear  it :  nor,  sister,  shall  you  see 
me  longer  in  disgrace.  Permit  me  first,  I  pray,  to  give  vent  to 
this  fury. 

He  said,  and  instantly  from  his  chariot  sprang  with  a  bound 
upon  the  plain ;  through  foes,  through  darts  he  rushes,  and 
leaves  his  mourning  sister,  and  with  rapid  course  bursts 
through  the  middle  ranks.  And  as  when  a  rock  tumbles  pre- 
cipitately down  from  a  mountain's  top,  torn  by  the  winds, 
whether  furious  rains  have  washed  it  away,  or  undermining 
time  by  length  of  years  hath  loosened  it ;  down  the  precipice 
abrupt  the  pertinacious  mass  of  mountain  with  vast  impulse 
is  hurried,  and  bounds  over  the  ground,  sweeping  away  with 
it  woods,  flocks,  and  men :  just  so  through  the  broken  troops 
Turnus  rushes  to  the  walls  of  the  city,  where  to  a  vast  extent 
the  earth  is  drenched  in  streaming  blood,  and  the  air  hisses 
with  javelins.  With  his  hand  he  makes  a  sign,  and  at  the 
same  time  thus  with  a  loud  voice  begins:  Now,  Rutulians, 
forbear,  ^and,  ye  Latins,  withhold  your  darts;  whatever  for- 
tune of  the  war  remains  is  mine :  it  is  more  equitable  that  I 
alone  expiate  the  [violated]  league  in  your  stead,  and  by  the 


B.  Hi.  695—730.  JENEID.  397 

sword  decide  the  strife.     All  the  troops  retired  from  between 
them,  and  made  room. 

But  father  ^Eneas,  having  heard  Turnus'  name,  forsakes 
the  walls,  and  forsakes  the  lofty  towers,  and  spurns  at  all  de- 
lays :  all  his  enterprises  he  breaks  off,  exulting  with  joy,  and 
thunders  dreadful  in  arms ;  as  mighty  as  Athos,  as  mighty  as 
Eryx,  or  mighty  as  the  parent  [mountain]  Apenninus34  him- 
self, when  with  his  waving  oaks  he  roars,  and  rejoices  in  his 
snowy  top,  exalting  himself  to  the  skies.  And  now  both 
Rutulians,  and  Trojans,  and  all  the  Italians,  eagerly  turned 
their  eyes ;  both  those  who  on  high  guarded  the  battlements, 
and  those  who  with  the  ram  battered  the  walls  below :  their 
arms  they  laid  down  from  their  shoulders.  Latinus  himself 
with  amazement  views  the  mighty  heroes,  born  in  distant 
quarters  of  the  globe,  encountering  each  other,  and  deciding 
their  quarrel  with  the  sword.  They,  soon  as  the  lists  in  the 
spacious  plain  were  cleared,  having  with  rapid  onset  flung 
their  javelins  from  afar,  rush  to  the  combat  with  shields  and 
arms  of  brass  resounding.  Earth  -gives  a  groan ;  then  stroke 
on  stroke  they  redouble.  Chance  and  courage  are  blended  to- 
gether. And  as  in  Sila's36  spacious  grove,  or  on  lofty  Tabflr- 
uus30  when  two  bulls  with  butting  fronts  rush  to  the  hostile 
combat,  the  shepherds  in  consternation  have  fled  ;  all  the  herd 
stand  dumb  with  fear,  the  heifers  faintly  low,  dubious  which 
shall  rule  the  herd,  whom  the  whole  drove  are  to  obey :  they 
with  great  force  deal  promiscuous  wounds  to  each  other,  and 
struggling  keenly  infix  their  horns,  and  with  profusion  of 
blood  lave  their  necks  and  shoulders :  the  whole  grove  re- 
bellows with  their  groans.  Just  so  Trojan  ^Eneas,  and  the 
Daunian  hero,  with  shields  against  each  other  tilting,  rush 
forward :  loud  clashing  fills  the  skies.  Great  Jove  sustains 
two  equally-poised  scales,  and  puts  into  them  the  different 
fates  of  both  ;  whom  the  toilsome  combat  destines  to  victory, 
and  in  which  scale  death  sinks  down.  Here  Turnus,  presum- 
ing he  might  with  safety,  springs  forth,  and  on  his  tiptoes 
rises  with  his  whole  body  to  his  uplifted  sword,  and  aims  a 
blow.  The  Trojans  and  trembling  Latins  shriek  aloud,  and 

34  Apenninus,  a  ridge  of  high  mountains,  running  through  the  middle 
of  Italy. 

35  Sila,  a  large  wood  in  Lucania,  abounding  with  pitch. 
38  Taburnus,  a  mountain  of  Campania.    B. 


398  ^ENEID.  B.  XII.  731—765. 

both  armies  are  fixed  in  suspense.  But  the  treacherous  sword 
breaks  short,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  stroke  leaves  the  in- 
flamed chief  [at  the  mercy  of  his  foe],  unless  flight  should 
succeed  to  his  relief.  Swifter  than  the  east  wind  he  flies,  soon 
as  he  saw  the  unknown  hilt,"  and  his  right  hand  disarmed. 
There  is  a  report  that  in  his  headlong  haste,  when  he  mounted 
his  yoked  steeds  for  the  first  onset,  while  he  was  in  hurried 
trepidation,  he  snatched  the  sword  of  his  charioteer  Metiscus, 
leaving  his  father's  [heavenly-tempered]  steel  behind :  and 
long  that  served  his  purpose,  while  the  Trojans  offered  their 
flying  backs ;  but,  when  it  came  to  Vulcan's  arms  divine,38 
the  mortal  blade,  like  brittle  ice,  in  shivers  flew  with  the 
stroke ;  along  the  yellow  sands  its  splinters  shine.  Therefore 
Turnus,  in  frantic  flight,  traverses  the  several .  quarters  of  the 
field,  and  now  hither,  then  thither,  wheels  in  uncertain  mazes. 
For  on  every  hand  the  Trojans  in  close  circling  bands  in- 
closed him ;  and  on  this  side  a  vast  morass,  on  that  steep 
mountains  environ  him.  Nor  less  eagerly  JEneas,  though,  dis- 
abled by  the  shaft,  his  knees  sometimes  check  and  oppose  his 
speed,  pursues,  and  fervent  presses  close  upon  the  heels  of  his 
trembling  foe.  As  a  hound  when  he  has  found  a  stag  in- 
closed by  a  river,  or  hedged  around  by  the  terror  of  the  crim- 
son plumes,39  pursues  him  with  speed  and  full  cry ;  he,  mean- 
while, scared  by  the  toils  and  steep  bank,  backward  and 
forward  flies  a  thousand  ways :  but  the  stanch  Umbrian  dog 
closes  upon  him  with  open  mouth,  is  just  in  act  to  gripe  [his 
prey]  and,  as  if  now  he  griped  him,  chides  with  his  jaws,  and 
with  delusive  bite  is  mocked :  then  shouts  arise,  the  banks 
and  lakes  around  re-echo,  and  the  whole  sky  thunders  with 
uproar.  At  once  he  (Turnus)  flies,  at  once  chides  the  Ru- 
tulians  all,  calling  on  each  by  name,  and  importunately 
craves  his  well-known  sword.  ^Eneas,  on  the  other  hand,  de- 
nounces death  and  present  destruction,  if  any  one  should  ap- 
proach ;  and  overawes  the  trembling  troops,  threatening  to 
raze  the  city,  and,  wounded  as  he  was,  presses  on.  Five  rounds 
they  finish  in  their  career,  and  trace  back  as  many  more,  this 
way  and  that.  For  no  slight  or  frivolous  prize  is  sought ;  but 
for  the  life  and  blood  of  Turnus  they  strive. 

17  He  struck  with  the  sword  of  Metiscu?,  not  his  own.     B. 

**  i.  e.  those  of  ^Eneas.     B. 

"  On  the  "formido,"  see  my  note  on  yEn.  iv.  120.    B. 


B.  xii.  766—801.  ^ENEID.  399 

Sacred  to  Faunus40  here  chanced  to  stand  a  wild  olive  with 
its  bitter  leaves,  a  tree  long  revered  by  seamen ;  where  saved 
from  the  waves  they  used  to  fix  their  offerings  to  the  Lauren- 
tine  god,  and  suspend  their  garments  vowed.  But  the  Tro- 
jans without  distinction  had  cut  down  the  sacred  stock,  that 
they  might  combat  in  a  clear  field.  Here  stood  the  spear  of 
-^Eneas :  here  fixed  the  hurling  force  [of  his  right  hand]  had 
conveyed  it,  and  riveted  it  in  the  tough  root.  The  Trojan 
stooped,  and  attempted  with  his  hand  to  wrench  out  the  steel, 
that  with  the  missile  weapon  he  might  pursue  him,  whom  by 
speed  he  could  not  overtake.  Then  Turnus,  with  fear  dis- 
tracted, cries :  O  Faunus,  pity,  I  pray ;  and  thou,  propitious 
Earth,  detain  the  weapon,  if  I  have  always  held  your  honors 
sacred,  which,  on  the  contrary,  the  sons  of  Troy  have  by  war 
profaned.  He  said,  and  invoked  the  aid  of  the  god  by  vows 
not  vain.  For  JEneas,  long  struggling,  after  loss  of  time  in 
essaying  the  tenacious  root,  was  unable,  by  his  utmost  efforts, 
to  disengage  the  firm  hold  of  the  wood.  While  he  keenly 
strains  and  presses,  the  Daunian  goddess,  again  transformed 
into  the  shape  of  the  charioteer  Metiscus,  runs  forward,  and 
restores  to  her  brother  the  sword.  Venus,  indignant  that 
such  license  should  be  given  to  the  audacious  nymph,  ap- 
proached, and  from  the  deep  root  tore  up  the  spear.  The 
towering  chiefs,  in  arms  and  courage  renewed,  the  one  relying 
on  his  trusty  sword,  the  other  stem  and  majestic  with  his 
spear,  stand  opposed,  breathless  hi  the  martial  combat. 

Meanwhile  the  sovereign  of  all-powerful  Olympus  addresses 
Juno,  as  from  a  yellow  cloud  she  viewed  the  fight :  Consort, 
when  shall  this  strife  be  at  an  end?  what  further  remains? 
You  yourself  know,  and  own  you  are  not  ignorant,  that 
JEneas  is  destined  to  be  a  denizen  of  the  sky,  and  by  the 
Fates  is  to  be  advanced  to  the  stars.  What  then  do  you  pro- 
pose, or  with  what  view  are  you  hovering  in  the  chill  clouds  ? 
Was  it  seemly  for  a  god  [elect]  to  be  violated  by  a  wound 
from  a  mortal  ?  or  that  Turnus  (for  without  you  what  power 
had  Juturna  ?)  should  have  his  wrested  sword  restored,  and  to 
the  vanquished  new  strength  accrue  ?  Now  at  length  desist, 
and  be  swayed  by  my  entreaty :  nor  let  such  discontent  prey 
upon  you  in  silence ;  nor  let  gloomy  cares  so  often  meet  me 

40  Faunus,  the  son  of  Picus,  who  is  said  to  have  reigned  in  Italy 
about  1500  B.  c. 


400  ^ENEID.  B.  xii.  802— 83& 

from  those  sweet  lips.  Now  affairs  are  come  to  a  crisis  :  you 
have  been  empowered  to  harass  the  Trojans  by  sea  and  land, 
to  kindle  a  nameless  war,  entail  dishonor  on  the  house  [of 
Latinus],  and  blend  sorrows  with  these  nuptials  [of  ^Eneas 
and  his  daughter] ;  further  to  attempt  I  forbid  you.  Thus 
Jupiter  spoke  :  thus  on  the  other  hand  the  Saturnian  goddess 
with  downcast  look  [rejoined] :  I  own,  great  Jove,  it  was 
because  I  knew  this  to  be  your  will,  that  I,  against  my  incli- 
nation, from  Turnus  and  the  earth  withdrew.  Nor  had  you 
seen  me  else  now  sitting  alone  in  this  airy  recess,  enduring 
things  worthy,  unworthy;41  but  girt  with  flames,  I  had  been 
planted  in  the  very  field  of  battle,  drawing  the  Trojans  on  to 
adverse  fight.  I  confess  that'  I  advised  Juturna  to  relieve  her 
unhappy  brother,  and  I  approved  that  for  his  life  she  should 
make  higher  attempts  ;  yet  not  that  she  should  [throw]  a  dart 
or  bend  a  bow  ;  I  swear  by  the  inexorable  source  of  the  Styg- 
ian lake,  which  is  set  forth  the  sole  object  of  religious  dread 
to  the  gods  above.  And  now  for  my  part  I  yield,  and  loath- 
ing renounce  combats.  This,  which  by  no  law  of  fate  is  with- 
holden,  I  implore  of  thee  in  behalf  of  Latium,  and  for  the 
honor  of  [its  princes],  thy  own  blood ;  that  when  by  this 
auspicious  match  (so  be  it)  they  shall  establish  peace,  when 
they  shall  unite  in  laws  and  leagues,  you  will  not  command 
the  natives  of  Latium  to  change  their  ancient  name,  or  become 
Trojans,  and  be  called  Teucri,  or  to  change"  their  language 
or  alter  their  dress.  Let  Latium  subsist;  let  the  kings  o, 
Alba  subsist  through  ages ;  let  the  sons  of  Rome  rise  to 
imperial  power  by  means  of  the  Italian  valor:  Troy  hath 
perished,  and  suffer  it  to  perish  with  its  name  forever.  To 
her  the  founder  of  men  and  things  thus  smiling  [spoke] : 
Sister  of  Jove,  and  Saturn's  other  offspring,  do  you  still  roll 
in  your  breast  such  tides  of  passion?  But  come  and  quell  the 
fury  indulged  in  vain.  I  grant  what  you  desire;  [by  your 
prayers]  I  am  subdued,  and  willingly  myself  resign.  Their 
native  language  and  customs  the  Ausonians  shall  retain  ;  and, 
as  it  now  is,  the  name  shall  be  :  only  incorporated  with  them 
the  Trojans  shall  settle  [in  Latium];  the  institutions  and 

41  A  proverbial   phrase,  equivalent  to  "  suffering  every  thing."    So 

t"  rcqua,  iniqua ;"  "  fanda,  infanda."    B. 
42  I  think,  "viros"  is  somewhat  emphatic,  thus:  "nor  compel  such 
men,  as  they  are,  to  wear  the  effeminate  Trojan  costume."    B. 


B.  xn.  837—875.  JEKETD.  401 

ceremonials  of  religion  I  will  add,  and  make  them  all  Latins 
of  one  speech.  Hence  a  race  mingled  with  Ausonian  blood 
shall  rise,  which  by  its  piety  you  shall  see  exalted  above  men, 
above  gods ;  nor  shall  any  nation  with  equal  zeal  celebrate 
your  honor.  To  these  words  Juno  assents,  and,  filled  with 
complacency,  gave  her  mind  a  contrary  bias.  Meanwhile  she 
quitted  the  sky,  and  from  the  cloud  withdrew. 

This  done,  the  Sire  revolves  another  purpose  with  himself, 
and  meditates  to  dismiss  Juturna  from  [aiding]  her  brother's 
arms.  Two  pests  there  are,  the  dire  sisters  called ;  whom, 
with  hellish  Megsera,43  joyless  Night  at  one  and  the  same 
birth  brought  forth,  and  bound  with  equal  spires  of  serpents 
and  added  to  them  wings  swift  as  the  wind.  These  at  the 
throne  of  Jove,  and  at  the  court  of  the  incensed  sovereign 
present  themselves,  and  sharpen  terror  in  the  minds  of  feeble 
mortals,  what  time  the  king  of  gods  prepare  baleful  death  and 
diseases,  or  terrifies  guilty  cities  with  war.  Of  these  Jove 
sends  down  one  in  haste  from  the  lofty  aether,  and  bids  her 
stand  before  Juturna  as  a  fatal  sign.  She  flies,  and  in  a  rapid 
whirlwind  to  earth  is  borne  :  just  as  through  a  cloudy  sky  an 
arrov.  shot  from  the  string,  which  tinged  with  the  bitterness 
of  malignant  poison  a  Parthian  (a  Parthian  or  Cydonian)  hath 
hurled  an  incurable  dart,  flies  hissing  and  unseen  athwart  the 
fleeting  shades ;  in  like  manner  the  offspring  of  Night  shot 
away,  and  hied  to  the  earth.  Soon  as  she  perceives  the  Tro- 
jan battalions  and  the  troops  of  Turnus,  she  suddenly  shrinks 
up  into  the  form  of  the  little  fowl,  which  at  times  sitting  by 
night  on  tombs  or  desolate  towers,  late  inauspicious  hoots 
amid  the  shades ;  into  this  shape  transformed,  the  fiend  in 
sight  of  Turnus  flies  backward  and  forward  screaming,  and 
flaps  on  his  buckler  with  her  Avings.  Unusual  numbness  relaxed 
his  limbs  with  fear,  his  hair  with  horror  stood  on  end,  and  his 
speech  clove  to  his  jaws.  But,  when  his  sister  Juturna  at  a 
distance  knew  the  shrill  noise  and  the  Fury's  wings,  in  deep 
distress  she  tears  her  disheveled  tresses,  mangling  her  face 
with  her  nails,  and  her  breasts  with  blows :  Turnus !  what 
can  thy  sister  now  avail  thee  1  wretch  that  I  am,  what  expe- 
dient have  I  now  left  ?  by  what  art  can  I  prolong  thy  life  ?  so 
rueful  a  portent  can  I  withstand  ?  Now,  now  I  quit  the  field. 

43  Megasra,  one  of  the  Furies,  daughter  of  Nox  and  Acheron. 


402  -&3NEID.  .    B.  xn.  875—910. 

Add  not  terror  to  my  fear,  ye  inauspicious  fowls :  the  beating 
of  your  wings,  your  deadly  screams  I  know ;  nor  am  I  a  stran- 
ger to  the  stern  mandates  of  imperious  Jove.  Are  these  the 
returns  he  makes  for  my  virginity  ?  Why  gave  he  me  immor- 
tal life  ?  why  was  I  exempt  from  the  law  of  mortality  ?  surely 
now  I  might  have  put  an  end  to  such  oppressive  woes,  and 
accompanied  my  wretched  brother  through  the  shades  below. 
I  immortal !  or  can  I,  brother,  relish  aught  of  my  enjoyments 
without  thee  ?  Oh,  what  earth  to  me  will  yawn  full  deep,  and 
dispatch  a  goddess  to  the  shades  below  ?  This  said,  the  god- 
dess muffled  up  her  head  in  a  sea-green  vail,  drawing  many  a 
groan,  and  plunged  herself  into  the  deep  river. 

On  the  other  hand,  ./Eneas  urges  the  attack,  majestic  waves 
his  massy  spear,  and  thus  with  wrathful  soul  bespeaks  [his 
foe] :  What  means  this  delay  now  after  all  ?  or  why,  0 
Turnus,  do  you  now  decline  the  combat?  It  is  not  in  lunning 
that  we  must  try  our  skill,  but  in  close  fight  with  ciuel  arms. 
Turn  thee  into  all  shapes,  collect  whatever  assistance  you  can, 
whether  from  valor  or  from  artifice :  wish  to  reach  on  wings 
the  lofty  stars,  or  shut  up  within  the  hollow  earth  to  lie  con- 
cealed. He,  shaking  his  head,  [replies]:  Not  thy  boisteious 
words,  insulting  foe,  cause  my  fears ;  the  gods,  and  adverse 
Jove,  intimidate  me.  Nor  more  he  said,  but  casts  his  eye  en 
a  huge  stone,  a  stone  antique,  of  huge  dimensions,  which  in 
the  field  by  chance  was  lying,  set  for  a  land-mark,  to  dis- 
tinguish the  controverted  bounds  of  the  fields."  Scarcely 
would  twelve  chosen  men  support  it  on  their  shoulders,  such 
frames  of  men  as  earth  now  produces.  The  hero  snatched  it 
up  with  hurrying  hand ;  raising  himself  aloft,  and  rushing  on 
with  speed,  he  hurled  it  against  his  foe.  But  he  knows  not 
himself,  either  while  running  or  going,  nor  when  he  lifts  up 
with  his  hand,  or  wields  the  enormous  stone."  His  knees 
sink  under  him :  his  chill  blood  with  shuddering  terror 
is  congealed.  Then  the  stone  itself,  rolled  through  the 
empty  air,  neither  reached  the  hero's  whole  length,  nor 
bore  home  the  intended  blow.  And  as  in  dreams  by  night, 
when  languid  sleep  hath  closed  our  eyes,  we  seem  in  vain  to 
make  effort  to  prolong  a  race  on  which  we  are  intent,  and  in 
midst  of  our  efforts  sink  down  faint ;  nor  power  is  in  the 

4*  Literally,  "  to  determine  some  dispute  respecting  the  fields."     B. 
44  i.  e.  he  feels  the  loss  of  his  wonted  strength.    B. 


B.  HI.  911—947.  JENEID.  403 

tongue,  nor  iii  the  body  competency  of  wonted  strength, 
nor  voice  nor  words  obey  [the  dictates  of  our  will]  ;  just  so 
from  Turnus  the  cursed  fiend  withholds  success,  by  whatever 
efforts  of  valor  he  sought  the  way.  Then  various  thoughts 
are  rolling  in  his  breast.  Now  he  turns  his  eyes  on  the  Rutu- 
lians,  now  on  the  city  [of  Laurentum],  now  stands  hover- 
ing in  dread,  and  trembles  for  the  approach  of-  the  dart.  Nor 
[perceives  he]  whither  he  can  fly,  nor  how  he  may  make  head 
against  his  foe,  nor  sees  he  any  where  the  chariot  or  his  sister 
charioteer.  In  this  perplexity  ./Eneas  brandishes  against  him 
the  dart  of  fate,  having  with  his  eye  marked  out  the  destined 
wound,  and  with  the  whole  force  of  his  body  hurls  it  from 
afar.  Never  did  stones  shot  from  a  battering  engine  roar'  so 
loud,  nor  from  the  thunder  burst  such  mighty  peals.  Like  a 
black  whirlwind  flies  the  javelin  winged  with  dire  destruction  ; 
it  opens  a  passage  through  his  corselet's  border,  and  the  utmost 
orb  of  his  sevenfold  shield ;  then  hissing,  passes  through  his  mid 
thigh.  Down  to  the  earth  the  mighty  Turnus  wounded  sinks 
on  his  doubled  knee. 

Up  rise  the  Rutulians  together  with  n  groan,  and  the  whole 
mountain  around  rebellows,  and  the  deep  groves  far  and  near 
return  the  sound.  He,  humble  and  suppliant,  stretching  his 
eyes  and  imploring  hand,  says,  I  have  indeed  deserved,  nor 
do  I  deprecate :  improve  thy  fortune.  If  any  regard  to  a 
wretched  father  can  move  thee  (thou  too  hadst  such  a  sire, 
Anchises),  have  compassion,  I  pray  th^e,  on  the  age  of  Daunus ; 
and  me,  or,  if  you  rather  choose,  this  body,  despoiled  of  life, 
unto  my  friends  restore.  You  have  overcome,  and  the  Auso- 
nians  have  seen  thy  vanquished  foe  stretch  forth  his  [suppliant] 
hands  :  Lavinia  is  thy  bride.  Persist  not  further  in  thy  hate. 
./Eneas,  fierce  as  he  was  from  the  heat  of  action,,  stood  rolling 
his  eyes,  and  repressed  his  hand :  and  still  more  and  more  the 
speech  had  begun  to  move  his  wavering  mind,  when  on  the 
high  shoulder  [of  his  foe]  the  inauspicious  belt  appeared,  and 
with  its  well-known  bosses,  the  girdle  of  youthful  Pallas  shone, 
whom  vanquished,  Turnus  with  a  wound  had  slain,  and  on 
his  shoulders  wore  the  hostile  badge.  Soon  as  the  hero  espied 
the  memorials  of  his  cruel  grief  and  the  spoils  [of  his  friend], 
inflamed  with  fury  and  terribly  enraged,  [he  exclaimed,  And] 
shalt  thou  from  me  hence  escape  clad  in  the  spoils  of  my 


404  ^ffEID.  B.  XII.  948—952. 

friends  ?  Thee  Pallas,  Pallas,  with  this  wound  a  victim  de- 
votes, and  takes  vengeance  on  thy  accursed  blood.  With 
these  words  deep  in  his  opposed  bosom  he  furious  plunged  the 
sword.  But  with  the  chill  of  death  are  his  limbs  relaxed,  and 
with  a  groan  the  indignant  soul  hurries  down  to  the  shades. 


THE   END. 


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tained in  the  Text-Books  used  in  the  Schools  and  Colleges 
of  America.  Portrait.  12mo,  Muslin,  75  cents ;  Half  Calf, 
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E 


DMOND'S  CICERO'S  OFFICES.  Cicero's  Three 
Books  of  Offices ;  or,  Moral  Duties :  also  his  Cato  Major,  an 
Essay  on  Old  Age ;  Laelius,  an  Essay  on  Friendship ;  Para- 
doxes ;  Scipio's  Dream ;  and  Letter  to  Quintus  on  the  Du- 
ties of  a  Magistrate.  Literally  Translated,  with  Notes,  de- 
signed to  exhibit  a  comparative  view  of  the  Opinions  of  Cice- 
ro, and  those  of  Modern  Moralists  and  Ethical  Philosophers. 
By  CYRUS  R.  EDMONDS.  Portrait.  12mo,  Muslin,  75  cents ; 
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TACITUS.  The  Works  of  Tacitus.  The  Oxford  Trans- 
lation, Revised.  With  Notes.  Vol.  I.  The  Annals.  Vol. 
II.  The  History,  Germany,  Agricola,  and  Dialogues  on  Ora- 
tors. 2  vols.  12mo,  Muslin,  $1  50 ;  Half  Calf,  $3  20 

WATSON'S  XENOPHON.  The  Anabasis,  or  Expedi- 
tion of  Cyrus,  and  the  Memorabilia  of  Socrates.  Literally 
Translated  from  the  Greek  of  Xenophon.  By  the  Rev.  J. 
S.  WATSON,  M.A.,  M.R.S.L.  With  a  Geographical  Com- 
mentary, iy  W.  F.  AINSWORTH,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  F.R.G.S., 
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UCKLEY'S   HOMER'S   ILIAD.     Homer's   Iliad.     Lit7 
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K 


HARPER'S  NEW  CLASSICAL  LIBRARY.  3 

GARY'S  HERODOTUS.     Herodotus.     A  New  and  Lit- 
eral Version,  from  the  Text  of  Baehr.     With  a  Geographical 
and  General  Index.     By  HENRY  CART,  M.A.,  Worcester 
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Calf,  $1  GO. 

ENNEDY'S  DEMOSTHENES.  Vol.  I.  The  Olynthi- 
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DALE'S  THUCYDIDES.  The  History  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  War,  by  Thucydides.  A  New  and  Literal  Version, 
from  the  Text  of  Arnold,  Collated  with  Bekker,  Goller,  and 
Poppo.  By  the  Rev.  HENRY  DALE,  M.A.,  Head  Master  of 
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H^SCHYLUS.     By  an  Oxonian.     Revised  by  T.  A.  BUCK- 
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ume), embracing  all  of  Hermann's  Emendations,  Translated 
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